


Lost and Scattered

by Walker_Dundee



Series: A Warrior, a Songbird and The Undead [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Grady Memorial Hospital, Older Man/Younger Woman, Reunions, Terminus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-07-29 22:43:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16273874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walker_Dundee/pseuds/Walker_Dundee
Summary: Beth and Max have escaped the destruction of their home and now must find the others. A sanctuary called Terminus offers hope for a reunion but peril lies at every turn and the world outside the prison walls is filled with danger and even more dangerous adversaries…





	1. Chapter 1

Beth Greene was barely holding it together, she was tired, numb and just wanted to lay down and cry. She, Max, Daryl and Mika had just escaped the Governor’s attack and were now staring up at the smoke coming from the burning ruins of their former home.  
The whole morning was just a blur filled with smoke, gunshots, fire and screaming. Her father’s murder at the hands of the Governor kept replaying over and over in her mind and was now burned into her memory. Beth didn’t know where Maggie was, they had been separated during the battle and Beth hoped she was alive and ok.  
Beth heard a voice, blinked and saw Max looking at her with a concerned but tender gaze.  
“Huh?” she asked.  
“I said we need to get somewhere safe” said Max gently.  
She nodded and they all climbed back into the Bushmaster. Beth just stared out the window as Max started driving, she had a horrible taste in her mouth and wasn’t just because she threw up her breakfast all over the road.  
They drove into the town near the prison and Max pulled into a tree lined street. He slowed down in front of a house with a large iron fence and stopped the vehicle.  
“This looks good” said Max.  
Beth wasn’t so sure, but she trusted Max's judgement.  
“You two stay here, Daryl and I will check out the house” said Max to Beth and Mika.  
“Be careful” Beth whispered.  
Max nodded, promising he would and then he and Daryl went to ensure the house was safe. Beth and Mika both peered out of the windscreen nervously as they waited in the Bushmaster for Max and Daryl to clear the house and Beth hoped Max wouldn’t run into any trouble.  
Her fears were eased, though when Max quickly reappeared from the house, giving the all clear signal and returned to the Bushmaster.  
“Come on, let's get inside” he said.  
Max helped Mika down and then held out his hand to Beth as she stepped down. Her knees almost gave out and Max held her steady.  
“You ok?” he asked.  
Beth nodded, trying to assure him she was but the turmoil inside her betrayed her and was sure Max could tell she wasn’t.  
Beth looked around the empty house as they entered and saw Daryl was slumped on the floor in the lounge room with his crossbow between his legs, staring at his feet. Beth Max and Mika walked into the kitchen and Max indicated for the girls to sit down. He pulled some water bottles from the bag he had taken from the Bushmaster and handed two of them to Mika.  
“Give one to Daryl” he said.  
Mika nodded and walked from the room. Beth picked up her bottle, took a deep gulp and then handed Max the bottle. He took a sip and gave her back the bottle. Max then took off his vest and Beth saw him wince in pain. She jumped up and rushed over to him.  
“Are you hurt?, did you get hit?” she asked frantically.  
Before he could answer, Beth lifted up his shirt and saw a darkening purple bruise on his chest.  
“Oh no you are hurt” she gasped.  
“It’s nothing to worry about Beth, just a bruise” he assured.  
She wanted to believe him and she knew deep down it really was just a bruise, but seeing Max hurt and everything that had happened that day finally broke her and she started sobbing.  
Beth’s knees gave out and Max quickly caught her, slumping to the floor with her. She pressed her face into his chest and gripped his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her.  
“Shh, it’s ok Beth” he whispered soothingly.  
“He killed him Max, he killed my dad” Beth wailed.  
“I know Beth, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” he whispered in her ear.  
Max held her tightly until she stopped shaking and her sobs faded away. Her outburst had attracted Mika and Daryl, who were now standing at the doorway of the kitchen.  
“I’m sorry guys” said Beth hoarsely.  
“It’s ok Beth” said Mika.  
Mika herself look like she wanted to cry, but gave Beth a brave smile. Beth took a deep breath, wiped her eyes and went to stand up. Max helped her up and into a chair.  
“You need to eat something Beth” he said.  
He reached into his bag and pulled out several energy bars, handing one to Beth.  
“You too, Mika” said Max.  
Mika accepted the bar and sat next to Beth. Max tossed a bar to Daryl and then opened one for himself. They sat and ate in silence, glancing at each other until Beth spoke up.  
“Max what do we do now?” Beth asked.  
She had already asked this question, but she really needed an answer now.  
“I’m not sure Beth, but we should stay put for the moment” he replied.  
“But what about Maggie and the others?, are we going to try find them?” Beth asked.  
“Beth I want to find them too, but everyone scattered in different directions and we never set any sort of rally point, so we have no idea where anybody is and where they went” he explained.  
“I might be able to pick a trail” offered Daryl.  
It was the first time he had spoken since they had left the prison and they all looked at him in surprise.  
“You think you could?” Max asked him.  
“Yeah, should be able to” Daryl replied and Beth’s hopes were lifted by this.  
They spent the rest of the day hiding out in the house, not talking much, but Beth started to feel better and better. Daryl went out on his own, looking for the others and Beth hoped he would find something, any sign of the others, but when he returned at dusk, he shook his head sadly.  
They had a quick dinner and then spent a restless night together in the lounge room. No one slept much except for Mika who curled up on the couch and Beth, Max and Daryl just sat in the darkness in silence until Beth finally fell asleep with Max’s arm wrapped tightly around her.  
When she woke the next morning she found Max still next to her and he gave her a reassuring look.  
“Sleep ok?” he asked.  
“Ok, I guess, bad dreams, though” she replied.  
“Yeah, I heard you talking in your sleep” he said.  
“I already miss him Max, I miss him so much” Beth whispered.  
“I miss him too Beth, your father was a great man” said Max.  
Beth laid her head on his chest and looked up at him.  
“Max, are we going to look for Maggie and the others today?” she asked him.  
“Yeah, we are, ” he replied and Beth smiled happily at him.  
“Come on lets get some breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us” he then said.  
He led her into the kitchen where Mika and Daryl were already sitting at the kitchen table, eating. Max’s food stash from Bushmaster was still spread out on the table and Beth grabbed herself something to eat.  
When breakfast was done with, the little group decided to get moving. They packed up the food, their gear and walked outside to the Bushmaster.  
“We are going to find Lizzie and Maggie and the others today I just know it” said Mika as they walked to the vehicle.  
Beth smiled at the girl and felt a warmth spread through her at the girl’s optimism.  
“I hope so too, Mika” said Beth.  
“Ok everyone on board” said Max.  
They all got in the Bushmaster and Beth settled in the passenger seat next to Max.  
“Ok, where do we start?” Beth asked him.  
“We’ll head back to prison, start from there” he answered.  
Beth could barely contain her anticipation as they drove back to the prison, but that was quickly squashed as they reached the main gate and saw the ruins. Small fires were still burning and hundreds of walkers filled the grounds.  
Beth wondered how they would even begin to find out what direction everyone took. Before she could voice her question Max started up the engine again.  
“Ok there is not much we can do here, I say we try find the bus” said Max.  
They left the prison behind again and found the road the bus would have taken. Beth tried to keep her hopes up as they began to follow the road and her heart leapt as they came around a corner, finding the bus stopped in the middle of the road. Bodies littered the road around the bus and Beth feared the worst.  
“Maggie” she cried out.  
Beth barely waited for Max to stop before she jumped out and ran to the bus.  
“Beth wait, hold up” yelled Max as he jumped down after her.  
Beth ignored him and began scanning the bodies. They were all walkers, but had been put down by someone. None of the walkers were Maggie though, just other former members of the group and Beth felt relieved that her sister could still be alive. Her hopeful mood was short lived though as she saw the dead body of one of the kids, torn apart and bloody.  
“Oh no” she whispered  
“Beth there is nothing here, we have to keep going” said Max gently, placing a hand on her arm.  
Beth nodded and then looked over to see Daryl crouched by the side of the road.  
“I got tracks here" announced Daryl.  
“Really?, where?” asked Beth.  
“Here” replied Daryl, pointing to the ground.  
“Can you tell who?” Beth asked hopefully, but Daryl shrugged and shook his head.  
“Nah, but there are two different sets, these are a day old I guess, the others are only a couple of hours maybe” he said.  
Beth’s hopes were raised again and she gave Max an excited, hopeful look.  
“Are we going to check them out?" she asked.  
Beth saw Max and Daryl exchange glances and she could tell they didn’t think it was a good idea.  
“Please Max, we have to try, we could be just behind Maggie or any of the others” Beth pleaded.  
Max seemed conflicted for a moment and then nodded.  
“Ok Beth” he said.  
They quickly geared up in case they ran into trouble and Max ensured nobody could steal the Bushmaster while they were away. When the vehicle was tightly locked up and the engine completely disabled, they all began to follow the tracks through the woods.  
As they walked they came across a bunch of dead walkers, leaving another trail for them to follow and Daryl knelt by one of them, pulling an embedded knife from one of the walkers.  
“This is one of Carol’s” said Daryl.  
“How do you know?” Max asked.  
“I gave it to her” replied Daryl.  
Beth hopes were raised even higher now and they continued to follow the footprints and dropped walkers. They soon came out to some train tracks and paused as Daryl tried to find the trail again. Beth noticed a sign taped to a pole and walked over to it. It was a map to a place called Terminus and her heart hammered in her chest as she read something else written on the sign, ‘Glenn head to Terminus, Maggie’  
“Oh my god Max look” she said excitedly.  
Max and the others walked over and inspected the sign.  
“Those who arrive survive” Max read.  
“What the fuck is Terminus?” asked Daryl.  
“Don’t know, but if Maggie and most likely Carol and the others are heading there, then we have a destination” said Max.  
Beth fully expected them to start following the train tracks, but Max motioned her to follow him back through the woods.  
“We’re safer in the Bushmaster, we’ll find a way to the tracks and make our way from there” he explained.  
Beth would feel safer in the armoured vehicle and they began walking back the way they came. They quickly made their way back to where they left the Bushmaster and Max enabled the vehicle again.  
“So how do get to the train tracks, will there be a road?” Beth asked as Max climbed into the driver's seat.  
“Nah, I was thinking more of taking a short cut” he replied.  
Before Beth could ask what he meant, Max started up the engine and drove off the road, into the woods.  
Beth gasped as they began crashing through the trees and bushes, but the heavy vehicle crushed through them with ease and they quickly came back out to the train tracks.  
They began to follow the train tracks and Beth saw another sign from Maggie to Glenn written on the side of an electrical box. Beth grew more excited and optimistic, hoping they might come across Maggie and the others just down the tracks.  
They soon came to a tunnel and Max slowed to a stop.  
“Can we fit?” Beth asked.  
“Yeah, not sure we should go in though” he said.  
Max switched on the lights and drove slowly into the tunnel. Beth wondered how long the tunnel would be but before she could wonder more, Max suddenly jammed on the brakes as a huge wall of dirt and rubble appeared in the headlights.  
“Shit” said Max.  
“Can we make it through?” Beth asked  
“No afraid not” Max replied.  
They carefully backed out and Beth gave Max a worried look.  
“We’ll find a way around ok” he said to her.  
Beth nodded, but she was now more disheartened that they hadn’t found Maggie, despite the second sign from her. She wouldn’t admit it to Max and the others, but she was also a little upset that Maggie had only put Glenn’s name on those signs, did she not care about her?, did she even think Beth was alive?. Beth forced these questions away and tried to think more optimistic thoughts.  
Their little detour took longer than expected and when they found the train tracks again, Max pulled to a stop.  
“What is it Max?” Beth asked him.  
“I’ve been thinking about the signs, we know nothing about this place, I’m just thinking we need to be cautious” he answered.  
“You think Terminus might be a trap?” Beth asked worriedly.  
“I don’t know, but we need to scope out the place before we just rock up at the gates” he replied.  
Beth really wanted to find Maggie, but she knew Max was right to make sure they weren’t walking into any danger.  
It was late afternoon now and Max decided it would be best if they found a place to stay for the night and tried for Terminus in the morning. They spotted a large turn of the century mansion and Max pulled into the driveway. They all got out, watching for any dangers and walked up to the front door.  
“A mortuary?” Beth asked, reading the sign in the front yard.  
“As good as place as any” said Max.  
The house was thankfully empty and strangely inviting despite being a funeral home. Once they had cleared the house completely, they gathered some things from the Bushmaster.  
Beth was putting her bag down in the foyer when they heard a bark and they all looked at the door.  
“Is that a dog?” said Beth.  
Max opened the door and sitting on the porch was a shaggy white dog with one eye. Beth crept closer to the door, not wanting to spook the dog, but the dog growled, barked and then ran off.  
“Maybe he’ll come back” said Beth, giving Max a smile.  
“Maybe he will” said Max in agreement.  
Beth really did hope the scruffy little dog did come back and joined their little group. She wandered into the kitchen and opened the kitchen cupboards. Her eyes then widened as she found them fully stocked with food.  
“Find anything?” asked Max as he came up behind her.  
“Yeah, peanut butter and jelly, diet soda, and pig's feet” she replied.  
“That's a white trash brunch right there” said Daryl.  
“It all looks good to me” said Beth as they all began to pull jars and bottles down.  
Max frowned as he inspected the goods and Beth gave him a concerned look.  
“What is it?” she asked him.  
“ Not sure, not a speck of dust on these” he said.  
“So?” Beth asked, confused.  
“That means somebody just put it here, this is someone's stash” Max explained.  
“Maybe they're still alive” said Beth  
“All right, we'll take some of it and we'll leave the rest, all right?” said Max.  
“Those pig feet are mine” said Daryl.  
“Yeah mate, you can have them all ” said Max.  
Daryl opened one of the peanut butter jars and scooped out a handful of the spread and ate it.  
“Eww gross Daryl” said Beth and everyone laughed.  
Night fell and after some dinner the four of them gathered in the funeral parlour. Daryl climbed into the empty casket and lay down.  
“Daryl” Beth scolded him.  
“What?, this is the comfiest bed I've had in years” he said.  
“Really?” Beth asked.  
“I ain't kidding” Daryl replied with a smirk.  
Beth just shook her head and saw Max had a grin on his face as well. Beth then walked over to the piano, sat down and opened the cover. Max sat down next to her as she ran her fingers over the keys.  
“Play something” said Max  
“Oh, I don’t know” said Beth.  
“Why not?” Max asked.  
“I don’t want to annoy anyone, ” she whispered.  
“You’re not going to annoy anyone, play something for us” Max assured.  
She looked around to room, Mika gave her a smile and even Daryl gave a little shrug like he didn’t mind.  
Beth began to play a slow, soft song and when she finished, saw she had a enthralled audience, even Daryl had been listening intently.  
“That was so good Beth, please play another” said Mika.  
She played a couple more and then stopped.  
“Thanks Beth that was beautiful” said Max and Beth blushed.  
The four of them sat quietly and Beth grabbed her bag. She pulled out the small stack of polaroids and began to go through them, most of them were of her and Max but she paused when she found one of Maggie and her father.  
“Oh” she whispered to herself.  
She ran her fingers over the photo and felt her eyes begin to water. Her father was smiling happily in photo and she realised she would never see that smile again. Max sat next to her and took her hand in his.  
“I promise will find Maggie Beth, we are going to find her” he assured  
Beth smiled at him and wiped her eyes before sliding the photo of her father and Maggie and a photo of her and Max into her pocket. Max then decided they should get some sleep. Beth agreed, needing a decent night's rest.  
“I’ll take first watch” offered Daryl.  
They were about to sort out some sleeping arrangements when all heard a noise at the front door and Beth gave Max a smile.  
“He came back” said Beth and Daryl walked over to the door to open it.  
Daryl was forced backwards as behind the door wasn’t a dog but a herd of hungry walkers, who forced their way inside. Beth screamed, Max drew his pistol and started firing at the snarling intruders.  
“You two, get somewhere safe” he shouted at Beth and Mika.  
“No, I’m not leaving you” Beth yelled, drawing her own pistol.  
“No Beth, go” Max yelled back.  
Beth didn’t want to leave Max but walkers got passed him and Daryl, stumbling towards Beth and Mika. Beth grabbed Mika and they ran into one of the back rooms, slamming the door behind them. The door was weak and old and wouldn’t hold back the walkers for long. There was no other way out of the room except for a window, but then Beth saw a small but heavy metal cabinet.  
“Mika, hide in there, now” Beth yelled.  
Mika gave her a terrified look, but quickly climbed inside. Beth slammed the lid closed just as the door gave way and walkers poured into the room. Beth raced to the window, hoping Mika would be safe until she could be rescued.  
Beth quickly opened the window and saw the ground was actually quite a drop. She didn’t have a choice though, and jumped out just as the walkers grabbed at her. She landed on the grass below heavily, pain shot through one of her wrists and she cried out. Beth couldn’t worry about the pain though, as there were walkers outside as well and they made for her.  
Beth went to pick up her dropped pistol, but winced in pain and her wrist felt like it was broken. She quickly grabbed the pistol up again in her good hand and she started firing at the walkers.  
There were far too many to fight, she couldn’t stay where she was and began running, hoping to find somewhere to hide.  
Beth continued to fire on the walkers stumbling after her as she ran, but she wasn’t a very good shot with her left hand and hoped Max would follow the gunshots. She was getting further and further away from Max and the others, but there were too many walkers behind her to go back.  
She stumbled out onto a road and as she stopped to catch her breath, headlights filled the road. Beth waved excitedly, thinking Max had found her. Her heart, then dropped as the vehicle didn’t slow down and she realised it wasn’t Max. She dived out of the way just in time, sprawling to the ground and hit her head hard on the road.  
Everything went woozy and the world started to spin. Beth heard the car screech to a halt and then the last thing she remembered was being picked up and loaded into the back of the car before everything went black…


	2. Chapter 2

The walkers invading their makeshift home for night overwhelmed Max and Daryl momentarily, but they managed to take care of them and were able to slam the door shut on the others.  
Max and Daryl then raced after Beth and Mika, dropping the walkers that had followed them. They rushed into one of the rooms and saw several walkers banging on a steel cabinet. They quickly took them out and Max wrenched open the cabinet, finding a terrified Mika inside.  
“Where is Beth?” he asked her.  
Before Mika could answer, Max heard gunshots coming from outside and he raced to the open window.  
“Beth” Max shouted into the night.  
Max then heard more gunshots and saw several walkers stumbling through the trees. With a glance at Daryl and Mika, Max leaped out the window. He landed with a roll and started running in the direction of the shots.  
Walkers grabbed at him as he ran, but he dodged them and continued on. Max then heard the sound of a vehicle and the screeching of tires. He reached the road the sound had come from just in time to see a car speed off. Max snapped up his pistol, but couldn’t risk a shot, just glimpsing a white cross in the back window of the vehicle as it disappeared.  
Max didn’t waste a second and started running faster than he had ever run before, back to the others. As he came round the side of the building, Daryl and Mika ran out of the front door. The front porch was walker free now, but others were still stumbling out of the woods towards them.  
“Where is Beth?” Mika asked.  
“Someone took her, we have to go now” yelled Max.  
Daryl ducked back inside and quickly returned with the bags Beth and Max had dropped in the foyer, tossing one to Max.  
The three of them then raced to the Bushmaster. Max fired up the engine and slammed the vehicle into gear. He jammed down the accelerator and they roared off after the car that had taken Beth.  
“Max what’s going on, who took Beth?” Daryl growled.  
“Followed her through the woods and someone in a car just took her” Max answered.  
Max pressed down on the accelerator and stared intently out the windscreen, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He was going to run whoever took Beth off the road when they caught up to them and kill them all for taking her from him, no matter what their story was.  
Max couldn’t see any sign of tail lights ahead of them and coaxed more speed out of the Bushmaster.  
They flew down the dark, empty road and soon came to a cross road. Max slammed on the brakes and cursed out loudly, bashing the steering wheel in frustration. There was no way of telling which way the car had taken and he had lost her.  
Max just sat with the engine running and headlights blazing for what seemed like hours before he turned everything off.  
“We’ll find her Max” said Daryl quietly.  
Max didn’t respond and just continued to stare out into the dark. He failed Beth, failed to keep her safe and he had failed Hershel, failed to keep his daughter safe like he had promised.  
Max just sat and stared for hours before he finally allowed himself to sleep and when he opened his eyes again, the sun was peaking over the tree tops and a new day was dawning.  
Max looked in the back to see Mika lying awkwardly on the seats but fast asleep. Daryl was awake, giving him a nod and Max could could only manage a small nod in return.  
“What’s the plan?” Daryl asked as he joined Max in the cab.  
Max didn’t really care what they did next, the only reason that kept him going and gave him purpose had been ripped from him. But he couldn’t just fall apart, Daryl and Mika were still with him and Beth wouldn’t want him to shut down, she would want him to keep going, to keep living.  
“We’ll head for Terminus, join up with the others if they are there” said Max quietly.  
“We’re not going to look for Beth?” asked Mika, now awake.  
Max almost snapped at her, but Daryl hushed her and Mika realised she had said something wrong.  
“Sorry” she said.  
“It’s ok, I’ll never stop looking Mika but I have no idea where she was taken so we should try finding the others” Max said heavily.  
Max started up the engine and they drove off. He found the train tracks again and started following them. Max was exhausted and knew he needed more sleep but he couldn’t bring himself to stop but then Mika spoke up.  
“Um Max I’m hungry, can we stop to eat?” she asked quietly.  
Max nodded, knowing he could do with some food as well. He spotted an auto repair shop up ahead and pulled over.  
As Daryl got out and wrenched open the large roller shutter, Max got a heavy sense of déjà vu, remembering the first night he had ever spent with Beth was in a repair garage just like this one.  
“You ok Max?” asked Mika.  
Max blinked and saw Daryl was waiting for him to drive inside. Max did so and Daryl closed the shutter.  
They organised a quick, simple breakfast and ate in silence. Daryl and Mika threw him concerned looks, but Max ignored them, his thoughts only on Beth.  
“Come on we should get going again” said Max when they had finishing eating.  
“Nah you need to get some sleep” said Daryl firmly.  
Max considered arguing with him, but was too exhausted, proving Daryl’s point. Max made himself a makeshift bed and lay down. He slept for a few hours, but it was filled with nightmares of Beth and when he woke he was still neither refreshed or rested.  
“Any trouble?” he asked Daryl and Mika.  
“Nah” said Daryl  
Max sat across from Daryl and the two of them made a plan of how they would approach Terminus. Both men knew they had to be cautious and needed to plan carefully as not to walk into any trap that might be waiting for them. Max and Daryl were finalising their plan when they heard a noise outside and Daryl snapped up his crossbow.  
“Walkers?” asked Mika, fearfully as Max reached for his rifle.  
Daryl shook his head and Max motioned Mika to hide in the Bushmaster and to stay quiet. They heard voices and then the sound of the garage’s side door being jimmied open. It was quickly busted open and several armed men walked in.  
They stopped dead when they saw Max and Daryl pointing weapons at them. There was a moment of silence and then one of them held up his hands.  
“Whoa, easy fellas, we don’t want any trouble” he said.  
All six of them radiated danger, but Max carefully lowered his rifle and Daryl did the same with his crossbow. The one who had spoken before raised an eyebrow and gave Daryl an impressed look.  
“A bowman, I respect that” he said and Daryl just snorted.  
“Who the fuck are you?” Daryl asked.  
“We’ll perhaps some introductions are in order then, I’m Joe, this is Dan, Billy, Harley, Tony and Len”said the man, introducing his companions.  
Max didn’t care to give them any names, but the leader, Joe, looked at them expectantly.  
“Max, that’s Daryl” said Max.  
“Well, that’s some accent you have there buddy, where you from?” Joe asked.  
“Does it matter?” Max growled.  
“I guess not, but I’d say you’re an Aussie right?” he inquired.  
Before Max could respond, Mia appeared from the Bushmaster. Joe and his men seemed taken back by her, but quickly relaxed, though Max saw the fat one’s eyes light up.  
“Well hi there sweetie, what’s your name?” asked Joe.  
Mika didn’t say anything and stepped behind Max, obviously scared of the men.  
“She yours?” Joe asked.  
Max picked up on the emphasis on the word ‘yours’ and Max could tell the man wasn’t asking if Mika was his daughter.  
“She’s a friend” said Max curtly.  
Joe nodded and Max saw the fat one’s smile widen. Joe’s eyes then wandered over to the Bushmaster.  
“Impressive vehicle, you military?” he asked Max and he gave the man a curt nod.  
“Knew it, can always can spot a military man, you all have that that thousand yard stare” he said and Max ignored the comment.  
“It doesn’t look like you’re living here, so where you all headed?” Joe asked.  
“We’re going to Terminus” said Mika before Max or Daryl could hush her.  
“Is that right?, it seems we are all heading to the same place” said Joe.  
Max couldn’t care less where these guys were going and really didn’t want anything to do with them  
“I'll tell you what it is though, it's a lie, ain't no sanctuary for all, ain't gonna welcome guys like us with open arms” said Joe.  
“Why you goin then?” asked Daryl.  
“Well, we were in a house minding our own business and this walking piece of faecal matter was hiding in the home, strangled our colleague Lou and left him to turn, so we tracked this fucker to one of those signs and thus we've got a destination in mind” Joe explained.  
“You see his face?” asked Daryl.  
“Only Tony, that's enough for a reckoning” answered Joe.  
A thought shot through Max’s mind, maybe whoever killed their friend might be one of the group. This could pose a problem, but Max pushed the thought away, whoever killed their friend could be anyone.  
Joe and his men then started making themselves comfortable like they now owned the place, claiming out loud the various cars and their back seats.  
Max didn’t trust any of them, Joe most of all and kept his rifle in reach, ready to use. He knew catastrophe was only a heartbeat away and stayed alert, just waiting for things to snap.  
It didn’t take long at all and everything began to fall apart when the one called Len walked over to the Bushmaster and looked inside.  
“Something I can help you with mate?” Max asked him.  
“Nah, just looking” Len replied  
“Well, look somewhere else” said Max.  
“What the fuck’s your problem?” Len snarled.  
The man was small, skinny and Max towered over him, but he stepped up to Max, glaring threateningly at him.  
“You need to step back now” Max growled.  
Everyone noticed the commotion, getting to their feet as Len continued to scowl at Max.  
“I'll bet it's a bitch got you all messed up, hmm?, am I right?, was it one of the little ones?, cause they don't last too long out here” Len taunted.  
Max had enough and wrapped his hand around the man’s throat, shoving him him against the Bushmaster. He dropped his other hand to his pistol and Daryl whipped up his crossbow as the other men reached for their weapons.  
“Easy, fellas, easy, let's just put our weapons down” said Joe calmly.  
Max ignored him and squeezed his hand tighter into Len’s throat. Len’s eyes bugged out and let out a gagging noise.  
“You don’t want to do this Max, let’s just talk this through” said Joe.  
He looked at Joe, he had his hands up, but his companions still had their weapons primed to fire. Max released Len and he stepped away from him, rubbing his throat.  
“Joe this guy needs to be taught, the rules say we got to teach him” yelled Len.  
“Now, now, It wouldn't be fair to punish him for violating a rule he hasn’t agreed to yet” said Joe  
“Joe..” Len pressed.  
“Just go cool off Len” snapped Joe.  
Len stormed off, the others returned to what they were doing and Joe walked over to Max.  
“Listen Len was out of line there, but we do have some rules, see going it alone, that ain't an option nowadays, but it’s still survival of the fittest, so I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours, keep our merry band together and stress-free, all you got to do is claim, that's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night, one word, claimed” explained Joe  
“We’re not part of your group” said Max.  
“I know, I know, but listen, we could use a man of your talent, both of you and your girl are welcome too”  
“Yeah, I think we’ll pass” said Max.  
Joe’s face darkened and his eyes hardened. A couple of Joe’s men got back up and moved closer to them.  
“That’s too bad, we could really use you on our team, but if that’s the case, maybe we just kill you and take what we want, your truck, your stuff, even the girl, I know Billy likes em young” said Joe.  
Billy chuckled evilly and so did the others. Max caught Daryl’s eye and he gave Max a small nod, sliding his finger onto the trigger of his crossbow again.  
“So how bout you face facts and get on board with the program” said Joe, stepping closer.  
“Yeah, sure thing mate” said Max.  
Joe’s grin widened and Max made his move. He quickly drew the knife from his back and jammed it up through Joe’s jaw. His eyes widened in shock as the blade sliced through his mouth and into his brain, killing him. As Joe dropped to his knees, Max drew his pistol and fired on Joe’s men as they fumbled for their weapons in shock.  
Max quickly dropped two of them, Daryl sent a bolt into one and Max swiftly shot another dead as the man dived for cover. The last one standing, the fat one, grabbed Mika and pressed a knife to her throat.  
“I’ll kill her, stay back, I’ll kill her” he cried frantically.  
Max crossed the room as Daryl trained his crossbow and Max just stared the man down. The guy knew he was fucked and he dropped the knife, letting Mika go. She ran to safety and Max and Daryl advanced on the last Claimer.  
“Wait, we can work something out” he pleaded, holding up his hands.  
“Why?” said Max and put a round through his head.  
He dropped to the ground and everything went silent. Mika was still terrified and she raced over to Max, flinging her arms around his waist and began sobbing.  
“You’re ok now Mika” he said gently.  
“I want Carol” she whispered.  
“I know you do and we are going to find her and your sister” Max promised.  
“And Beth as well?” Mika asked.  
“Yeah, we’ll find her too” said Max.  
This seemed to calm Mika down and she stopped crying. She wiped her eyes and gave Max a brave look that faded as she looked at the dead remains of the Claimers.  
Daryl began making sure they wouldn’t reanimate and Max told Mika not to look and to wait in the Bushmaster.  
Max looked at the bodies and down at his blood stained hands and grimaced. Max had no problem with death, having spent a better half of a decade in battles and wars and it was normal to him. But it was different now, though, there was no reprieve from the death and danger that enclosed them everyday. Max needed Beth to keep the darkness at bay and keep him a good man, to give him purpose and prevent him from becoming the men lying before him. Max vowed to himself that he wouldn’t rest until he had Beth back in his arms again and would spend the rest of his days looking for her.  
Max and Daryl then gathered up the Claimers weapons and supplies and placed them in the Bushmaster.  
“Let’s get out of here” said Max.  
Daryl and Mika agreed, not wanting to stay there any longer. They all piled into the Bushmaster and drove off, leaving the Claimers behind far them…


	3. Chapter 3

Beth woke to the strong smell of disinfectant and looked up at a strange white ceiling. She sat up and winced in pain, seeing her right arm covered in a cast. She also noticed her clothes had been replaced by blue hospital scrubs and she was hooked up to an IV.  
Beth was scared now, where the hell was she and where was Max?. Beth remembered the mortuary, being chased by walkers, a car almost hitting her and then the rest was blank.  
Carefully getting out of the bed, Beth dragged the IV stand to the window and looked out. A bombed out city greeted her that could only be Atlanta. Her heart pounded, she was in Atlanta?, why was she in Atlanta?. Beth then rushed over to the door and tried the handle, but found it locked.  
“Hey, hello, hey” she yelled as she began banging on the door.  
Beth heard movement outside and she quickly pulled out the IV in her arm ready to use it as a weapon. A man in a doctor's coat and a woman in a police uniform opened the door and walked in.  
“Whoa, every thing's ok.” said the doctor, holding up his hands.  
"Ok?, put it down” the policewoman ordered but Beth hesitated.  
"Drop it right now” she ordered louder.  
The woman put her hand on the pistol on her hip and Beth dropped the IV needle from her hand.  
"I'm Dr Steven Edwards, this is Officer Dawn Lerner” the doctor explained.  
"How are you feeling?” he then asked.  
“Where am I?” Beth inquired.  
“Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta” he answered.  
"How did I get here?” Beth asked.  
“My officers found you on the side of the road surrounded by rotters” said Dawn.  
“Your wrist was fractured and you sustained a superficial head wound, can you remember your name?” the doctor asked.  
“Beth, the others I was with, are they here too?” Beth said hopefully.  
“No you were alone, if we hadn't saved you, you'd be one of them right now, so you owe us” said Dawn.  
Dawn then walked from the room and Beth looked at the doctor with confusion.  
“Let me show you around” he said.  
Dr Edwards led her out into the hallway and then into a room where an unconscious man lay on a bed.  
“They found this gentleman under a bridge, cardiac arrest and extreme dehydration, tried to do what I could” Dr Edwards explained.  
The doctor then reached over and switched off the man’s respirator.  
“Wait, that's it?” asked Beth in disbelief.  
“If patients don't show any signs of improvement, well Dawn calls it” he explained simply.  
Dr. Edwards jammed a knife into the man’s head and Beth then helped him wheel the dead man’s bed out into the hallway to dispose of his body.  
While the doctor paused to speak to Dawn in the hallway, Beth glimpsed a teen her age at the other end, mopping, She walked a little further down, looking into an open door. She locked eyes with a woman not much older than herself and Beth opened her mouth to greet her, but the woman just glared and quickly closed the door.  
“Come on, body's getting cold” said Dawn as she came up behind Beth.  
Dawn pulled out a set of keys and opened a locked set of doors. Beth and Dr Edwards went through and Beth saw an open elevator shaft at the end of the hallway.  
“How many people live here?” Beth asked the doctor.  
“Just enough to keep us going, some of us started here, some came as patients and everyone has a job” he explained in reply.  
They stopped at the elevator shaft and Beth peered down. The whole shaft was empty and she could see a bloody hole at the bottom. Beth heard groans coming from the hole and shivered.  
“Can't we bury him?” Beth asked.  
“No, we only go out when we need to, it may not be the most dignified disposal system, but we work with what we have, we've managed to secure and guard the stairwells, but the windows are blown out on the ground floor, rotters find their way into the basement when they hear a noise and if the bodies are warm or warm enough, they clean up some of the mess” said Edwards  
“Use everything you can use” said Beth.  
“Plus it's the fastest way down” said Edwards as he tipped up the bed and the body fell down the shaft.  
Beth then followed Edwards he showed around, Beth tried to take it all in but was all a little daunting and Beth still couldn’t stop thinking about Max and if he was ok. Dr Edwards said something to her and she looked up at him.  
“Sorry?” she asked.  
“I said this is my office” he said.  
Beth looked inside, it was a mess and Beth saw a large oil painting next to the desk.  
“Oh ok”  
“Alright, how bout you go get us both something to eat?” the doctor suggested.  
Beth nodded and made her way to the cafeteria that Dr. Edwards had just shown her. She picked up a lunch tray and began to pick from the choices.  
“Well, you're looking better and better” said the cop behind the counter,  
He gave her a leering smile which Beth tried to ignore, but it sent a chill down her spine.  
“We had a lead on some guns, so me and my partner were pretty far out when we saw you, wriggling in the road, you don’t remember me huh?” he said.  
“I was running from walkers and everything went black” Beth explained.  
“Yeah, one was eyeing your thighs when we showed up, but I got there first, jacked that rotter up, I'm Gorman by the way” he said.  
Beth just continued to place food items on the plate and tried to ignore him the best she could.  
“When someone does you a favour, it's a courtesy to show some appreciation, unless you want me to write down everything you're taking?” he said, threateningly.  
Beth just stared at him as a chill ran down her spine again. She wasn’t scared of him, but she could tell he was dangerous.  
“Everything costs something, right?” Gorman then said.  
Beth didn’t respond, but gave Gorman a cold stare and walked away, taking the food back to Dr. Edwards office. She passed by Dawn’s office and saw her inside with the teen Beth had glimpsed before.  
“We'll find Joan, until then, you've got laundry duty and I want my uniform..” she heard Dawn say.  
“Washed separately and pressed” they both said at the same time.  
Beth continued on to Dr. Edwards office, a record was playing and the doctor began muttering about how he used to be drowning in research and now he was suffocating in boredom.  
“You're lucky, if you feel safe enough to be bored, you're lucky” said Beth.  
Beth placed the tray of food down on the table and went to walk away.  
“Where’s yours?” he asked in confusion.  
“The more I take, the more I owe, right?” said Beth.  
“Have you ever tried guinea pig?” Dr Edwards asked.  
“I didn't think so, I’ve eaten squirrel though” said Beth in reply.  
“Really?, well it can’t be much different, sit down” said Edwards and Beth hesitated.  
“Dawn doesn't have to know, come on” he said, holding up his fork.  
Beth sat down, took the fork and speared some of the guinea pig meat then tentatively tasted it  
“Well?” the doctor asked.  
“Hmm” said Beth and shrugged.  
"Well, it's good enough for Peru" he said with a chuckle.  
Beth then looked at the oil painting and thought it looked beautiful. Dr. Edwards went on to explain he had found it in the trash and that it didn’t have a place in the world anymore, that art wasn’t about survival, it was about transcendence, being more than animals and rising above that.  
“We can’t do that any more?” asked Beth, disagreeing with him.  
“I don’t know” he said heavily.  
“I sing, I still sing” said Beth and Dr. Edwards gave her a little smile.  
Beth heard footsteps and Dawn barged into the room.  
“Doc we got a new one” she said.  
Beth and Edwards followed Dawn into one of the operating rooms as a bloodied man was wheeled in.  
“Found his wallet, his name is Gavin Trevitt” said one of Dawn’s officers.  
“Fell from a first floor apartment trying to get away from some rotters.” said another.  
Dr. Edwards examined the man and Beth noticed one of the officers whisper something into Dawn’s ear. Beth couldn’t pick up what the man had said, but she could tell it was of great interest to Dawn.  
“He's lost a lot of blood and his vitals are dropping” said Dr Edwards.  
“We've already given him gas” said the male officer  
“I got this” said Dawn curtly, dismissing him.  
“You said you wanted to save people, so save him” said Dawn, now addressing Dr. Edwards.  
“I don't even know the extent of his injuries, look, this one's a loser, you said you didn't want me wasting resources” said the doctor.  
“Well, today I want you to try” snapped Dawn.  
Dr Edwards sighed and then began giving directions, Beth tried to help but then just stood back as Dr Edwards and Dawn tried to save the man’s life. Beth grimaced as the doctor stabbed the man with an instrument and blood spurted everywhere. The man’s heart monitor began to beep normally and Dawn asked if he was going to make it.  
“He fell from a building Dawn” Dr Edwards snapped.  
“Is he going to make it?” asked Dawn again.  
“You see these bruises?, he has internal bleeding, but I need a CAT scan to know how bad and even if I could determine that, I don't have the tools to save him, I told you, this was a waste of resources” said Dr Edwards.  
Dawn’s expression darken and before Beth could react, Dawn slapped her across the face. Beth stumbled back and held her face in shock.  
“Steve, try to grasp the stakes here” said Dawn angrily.  
She stormed from the room and Beth just stood motionless and felt a little trickle of blood fall from the now reopened cut on her cheek.  
“Come on, let’s get that cleaned up” said Dr Edwards.  
He led her back to the room she had awoken in and he began to restitch her wound.  
“Is she always like that?” Beth asked him.  
“Only on her bad days, it's unfortunate for us that's the only kind she has” he answered.  
He finished up his work and gave her a small reassuring smile but Beth didn’t return it.  
“Noah left you a new shirt” he said, pointing to the neatly folded shirt on the pillow  
“What's wrong with this one?” said Beth, looking down at her current shirt that had only a few spots of blood on it.  
“She likes things neat” Dr Edwards replied.  
“She must really love your office then’ said Beth  
“We all have ways of making her pay,I'll wait for you outside” he said.  
Beth nodded and he left the room. She picked up the clean shirt and heard something crinkle, pulling a green lollipop from the shirt pocket.  
Beth smiled and decided to save it for later, sliding it under the mattress. She then stripped off her dirty shirt and was immensely grateful she was still wearing the same bra she had on before she was kidnapped. She pulled on the clean shirt and joined Dr Edwards in the hallway.  
There was a commotion down the end of the hallway, the doors slammed open and two officers burst in dragging an injured woman between them.  
“Dawn needs you, now” shouted Gorman to Dr Edwards.  
Beth and the doctor raced into the room they had taken the woman, seeing them holding the squirming woman down on the bed. Once again Beth didn’t know what to do and just stood back.  
“Whatever you were thinking Joan, it wasn't worth it, ok, you have two choices, either we cut off your arm or you do” said Dawn to the woman.  
“Screw you and your little bitch” snarled the woman.  
“Smart-ass whore” Gorman growled.  
”Gorman, get out of here” yelled Dawn, shoving Gorman from the room.  
Dr Edwards pulled a large needle from a draw and tried to inject the woman but she kicked it away.  
“Its anaesthetic, you need it” Dr Edwards reasoned.  
“Go to hell” snarled Joan  
“She made her choice, do it, do it” said Dawn.  
Dr Edwards began to tie off Joan’s arm and she began to wail.  
“No, no, no!, I said leave me alone” she cried.  
“We're not going to let you die, we are not going to let you turn” shouted Dawn.  
Beth had seen enough and she really didn’t want to see what was going to happen next. She tried to turn to leave, but Dawn stopped her.  
“Where do you think you're going?” she shouted.  
“I-I can't help” said Beth.  
“Do you want her to die?” shouted Dawn but Beth hesitated, frozen to the spot.  
“Beth, I need you to hold her down, do it now, now“ yelled Dr Edwards.  
Beth relented, walked closer to the bed and held Joan’s shoulders down as best she could as Dr Edwards pulled out a loop of thin wire.  
“Keep your hands off me! I'm not going back to him” screamed Joan.  
“You don't have to” said Dawn  
”You can't control them” said Joan.  
“I will” promised Dawn.  
Dr Edwards then began to saw the wire through Joan’s arm. She continued to scream in agony and blood sprayed everywhere. Beth held onto Joan as the woman kicked and struggled and Beth wanted to be anywhere else at that moment. She wanted to be safe in Max’s arms, wanted to be with Maggie and far away from this nightmare she was now trapped in.  
When it was all over and Joan had passed out from the pain, Dr Edwards and Dawn dismissed Beth. She was still rattled over what she was forced to take part in and didn’t know what to do next. She ended up grabbing her soiled shirt to get washed. Beth carried her blood stained shirt into the laundry room and found the teen from before, ironing.  
“You okay?” he asked and Beth nodded, half-heartedly.  
“I'm Noah, of the Lollipop Guild” he said  
“Beth, thanks for that.” said Beth.  
“Figured you could use a pick-me-up after this morning, guess I should have brought the whole jar, here this should fit” said Noah, handing her a clean shirt.  
“You know what happened with Joan? If she'd have stayed, worked for a while, couldn't she have just left?” asked Beth.  
“I haven't seen it work like that yet” said Noah with a snort.  
“How long have you been here?” Beth asked.  
“I guess about a year” Noah replied.  
Beth looked at him in disbelief, if he had been here for so long then what hope did Beth have of getting out?. Noah must have sensed what she was thinking and lifted up his pants, showing a nasty scar running up his leg.  
“Dad and I were both pretty messed up when they found us, they said that they could only save one for the longest time, I actually believed them, now I get it, dad was bigger, stronger, would have fought back and would have been a threat” Noah explained.  
“They left him behind on purpose?” Beth asked.  
“And Dawn just looked the other way, see she's in charge, but just barely and it's getting worse, it's why I'm out of here when the time is right” he said.  
“Where's home?” Beth asked.  
“Richmond, Virginia, see they think I'm scrawny, they think I'm weak, but they don't know shit about me, about what I am, about what you are” said Noah with conviction.  
Noah’s words resonated deeply with Beth and she felt a warmth spread through her, had she just made a friend and ally in this horror of a place?.  
Beth left Noah to his work and then was assigned another job, under the watchful eye of one of the officers. She had almost completed the task when Dawn came into the room.  
“Shepherd, you've already pulled a double, I got it from here” said Dawn to the officer.  
The officer said her thanks and walked from the room. Dawn had a tray of food in her hand motioned Beth to stop what she was doing.  
“I know you didn't have breakfast, peace treaty?” said Dawn.  
“I don't need much, I'm not staying any longer than you make me” said Beth firmly.  
Dawn sat down and then indicated for Beth to take the seat next to her. Beth hesitated for a second then sat down.  
“You know, you shouldn't see this as a sentence, I'm giving you food, clothes, protection, when have those things ever been free?” said Dawn gently  
“I never asked for your help” said Beth.  
“But you needed it, try to look at the good we're doing, hard as it was, we saved Joan's life, Trevitt's life, we saved your life, I'm keeping all of us going here, that is not a small thing” said Dawn.  
If Beth had just met Dawn she might have believed her words, but after everything she had seen that day, Beth couldn’t stomach the lies anymore.  
“It's taken a lot to get us here, Beth and I believe that what we had before all of this isn't over and when we're finally rescued, when this nightmare ends, we're gonna need to rebuild” said Dawn.  
“You don't really think someone's coming for us?” asked Beth in disbelief.  
“There's still people like us, Beth” snapped dawn.  
“People trying to keep the world alive, to fix it, until then, we all have to contribute, to compromise, if we take, we give back, it's only fair, so keep working off what you owe and you'll be out of here in no time, If that's what you want?”  
“It is” said Beth unwaveringly.  
“Well, then you have to eat, otherwise, you'll get weak, you won't heal, you'll require more treatment and you won't be able to do your job, I know you didn't ask for this, I didn't either” said Dawn, giving the final word.  
Beth wanted to argue, wanted to tell Dawn what she really thought, but she began to eat begrudging and Dawn left her alone. Beth returned her empty tray to the cafeteria and one of the officers ordered her to clean up the blood in Joan’s room.  
Beth found a mop and bucket and began to mop the blood on the floor. She started to hum softly and jumped when Joan spoke up.  
“Hmm, that's really nice” she said.  
“I'll get Dr. Edwards” said Beth, putting the mop up in the bucket.  
“No, please, not yet” pleaded Joan.  
“I'm so sorry” Beth whispered.  
“She can control them, but she doesn't because it's easier, because she's a coward” said Joan bitterly.  
“What did he do to you?” asked Beth.  
“It doesn't matter, I guess it's easy to make a deal with the devil when you're not the one paying the price” replied Joan.  
Beth didn’t know what to say and Joan just turned her head to the side and stared at the wall. Beth quickly finished mopping and then retreated to her room. Once inside, she lifted up the mattress and searched for the lollipop she had stashed there, but it was gone  
“Lose something?” asked a voice and Gorman came into the room, holding up the green lollipop.  
“This is yours, ain't it?, sour apple, like the kind Dawn acquired from paediatrics” he said.  
Gorman ripped off the wrapper and held it up in front of her.  
“Suppose you could have a taste, see if it rings any bells” he said.  
“I don't want it” said Beth, backing away from him.  
”Oh, come on, now, I just want to be sure I'm returning this to its rightful owner” he said.  
Beth was trembling now as Gorman rubbed the lollipop over her lips. He forced the lollipop into her mouth and chuckled.  
Yeah, that's right, that's right” he said.  
Beth was still trembling as she tried to guess what he had planned next, but Gorman just continued to grin lewdly at her. He then stepped back and reached into his shirt pocket and Beth’s heart hammered as he pulled out her charm bracelet and her polaroids.  
“I think these might belong to you too as well”said Gorman.  
Beth made to take them from him, but he held them out of reach.  
“Ahh, not so fast” he said.  
“This your boyfriend Beth?, looks kinda old for you, don’t you think?, you into older guys Beth?” Gorman then asked creepily.  
Beth didn’t respond and just stared at him as he waved the photo of her kissing Max’s cheek in front of her.  
“And this looks kinda expensive” he said, examining the charm bracelet.  
“Please, it was a gift” Beth pleaded.  
“I don’t know Beth, I think you might have looted this, that’s a crime, you know, so I’m going to confiscate this for now” he said.  
Gorman slipped the bracelet into one of his belt pockets, but kept the polaroids in his hand.  
“Listen, I’m a nice guy so I’ll let you have the photos” he said.  
Gorman held out the polaroids and Beth snatched them from his hand.  
“But if you want the bracelet back, we might be able to work something out” he said creepily.  
Gorman reached out to touch her and Beth stepped back from him.  
“Leave her alone” said a voice.  
Dr Edwards was standing at the door and Gorman turned to face him.  
“The girl should be mine, ” said Gorman, chilling Beth to the core.  
“Nobody's yours, Gorman, nobody and if you think you're getting Joan back…” said Dr Edwards  
“Oh, I'm gonna get her back, you think Dawn's gonna stop me?” growled Gorman.  
“I will” said Dr Edwards firmly.  
“You stepping up, Doc?” asked Gorman, threateningly.  
“What happens when you get sick Gorman?, when you get an infection?, when you get bit?” asked Dr Edwards  
“Hmm, I think there's gonna be somebody, somebody who ain't you” said Gorman.  
“Gorman” said Dawn, who was now standing at the door.  
“And maybe somebody in charge who ain't her” said Gorman and walked out the room.  
Doctor Edwards gave Beth a sympathetic look, but she gave him a furious one in return.  
“Why do you stay?, you could leave whenever you want, why do you stay here?” she asked him, her voice cracking.  
Edwards gave her a pained look and then led her down several floors to a darken hallway and to a large grated air vent.  
“Welcome to the ground floor of Grady Memorial Hospital” he said.  
“This isn't a way out” said Beth in confusion.  
“There isn't one, not from here” he said sadly  
“Why did you bring me here?” Beth asked him.  
“Watch” he replied.  
He picked up a metal pipe and struck the vent. Walkers appeared, banging against the vent and Beth jumped backwards.  
“When I start thinking about it too much, I come down to look at this” explained Edwards  
“Why did you bring me here?” Beth asked again angrily.  
“You asked why I stay” he replied.  
They left the hallway and the doctor then led her up to the roof. Beth looked out at the destroyed city and for the hundredth time that day she wondered where Max was and if he was ok.  
Edwards began to tell her a story of the early days, how Dawn had reported to a guy named Hanson and had been part of an evacuation team getting everyone out of the hospital. The military had dropped bombs on the city and Edwards himself had witnessed all the people that had just been evacuated from the building wiped out. Edwards and Dawn’s remaining men had secured the hospital, but had been forced to start going out on runs when the food ran out.  
“I found this kid one day, napalm burns on his clothes, his skin, Dawn said we couldn't spare the resources, so we struck a deal, I'd use what I could to heal him and he'd compensate us for those resources through service” said Dr Edwards.  
“You’re not the problem” said Beth gently  
“We lost people, that was the problem, Hanson cracked, he made some calls that got people killed, Dawn took care of things and she took care of him, she saw us past it and kept us together, kept us alive” said the doctor.  
“You call this living?” Beth asked.  
“Well, it’s better than out there” he said heavily.  
“I should get back” Beth then said, wanting to leave the roof.  
“How about you look in on Mr Trevitt and call it a day?” Dr Edwards suggested.  
“Ok” said Beth.  
“He's stable, due for another 75mg of Clozapine, and tomorrow we'll start fresh” said Edwards.  
“Sure” said Beth.  
Beth made her way to Mr Trevitt’s room and started preparing the medicine. As she injected it, Noah came into the room.  
“Still at it, huh?” he asked.  
Beth nodded and then the medical monitor began beeping and the man began to shake.  
“No, what?, no” said Beth frantically.  
There was nothing Beth or Noah could do and the man died in front of them. Dawn and Dr Edwards quickly rushed into the room, but were too late to save Mr Trevitt.  
“What did you do to him?” demanded Dawn as she stabbed the man in the head.  
“I-I- don’t” began Beth.  
“He was fine until the two of you were alone with him, something happened, I want you to tell me” Dawn ordered.  
“It was an accident” said Noah.  
They all looked at him, including Beth.  
“Beth left to get some gauze, I was mopping, I must have unplugged the ventilator somehow, It only stopped for a minute” said Noah  
“But that's..” said Beth  
“I got it working again” said Noah, cutting Beth off.  
“Take him to my office” said Dawn angrily.  
“Dawn, it was an accident, It was an accident, ” said Dr Edwards as Gorman dragged Noah away.  
“That's not what happened, he just..he just started seizing” said Beth, frantic now.  
“Seizing?” asked Edwards in confusion and Beth nodded.  
“Well, you gave him Clonazepam, right?” he asked.  
Beth’s heart sank and her eyes widened in confusion, that’s not what the doctor had said on the roof.  
“Cloz-- Clozapine, you said Clozapine” she said.  
“No, I didn't” said Edwards in reply.  
Noah’s cries of pain began to echo down the hallway and Beth rushed to stop it but Dr Edwards stopped her.  
“Beth, we need to deal with Mr Trevitt while he's still warm” he said.  
”I have to stop it!” Beth yelled out, struggling in the doctor's arms.  
“We can't, you can't stop it” said Dr Edwards.  
Beth wrenched herself from the doctor's grip and ran to her room. She needed to escape this place as soon as possible, she couldn’t trust even Dr Edwards now. Beth knew she had administered the right drug Dr Edwards had told her to give the man, she had heard the name correctly, which meant the doctor had knowingly told her to give Mr Trevitt a drug that would kill him, passing it off as an accidental death on Beth’s part.  
Dawn then walked into her room and shut the door behind her.  
“You really think I didn't know?“ she asked Beth.  
“Noah's smart, probably my best worker, but that story he told about the ventilator?, boy's not much of a liar” said Dawn.  
“If you knew, then why did you..” began Beth, furiously.  
“I didn't want to, I had to” dawn snapped and then continued on.  
“A good man's mistake almost ended everything for us, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let that happen again, every sacrifice we make needs to be for the greater good, the second it isn't, the second we lose sight of that, it's all over” she said.  
Dawn paused to let that information sink in before continuing on again.  
“The thing is, you're not the greater good, you're not strong enough” she said.  
“I am strong” said Beth fiercely  
“How many people had to risk their lives to save you?” Dawn asked.  
Beth just stared at her, Dawn had no idea who Beth was or what she had done. Dawn then went on to explain that Beth was part of a system, if she and the other wards kept Dawn’s officers happy then the happier her officers were and the harder they worked to keep everything going.  
“And after they rescue us Beth, we're gonna help put the world back together, because we're the ones holding on, that's the good we're doing here, that’s the good you’re doing here, but out there you are nothing, except dead or somebody's burden” said Dawn.  
“That's bullshit” said Beth angrily.  
“Oh, yeah?, I saw this last night when you came in” snapped dawn, holding up Beth’s cut wrist.  
“Is this bullshit, too?, some people just aren't meant for this life and that's okay, as long as they don't take advantage of the ones who are” said Dawn.  
With that, Dawn was done and walked from the room. Beth just stared at the door and shook with fury. She was done with this place and she wasn’t going to stay there a second longer.  
Beth went to look for Noah and found him in the grow room. She grimaced as she saw Noah’s face, but he gave her a little smile  
“I'm okay, look, painkillers, it barely even hurts” he said.  
Beth nodded and then looked at the door.  
“Noah we are getting out of here today, we’re not staying any longer” she whispered.  
Noah didn’t say anything at first, but then smiled.  
“Basement's the fastest way out, any noise and we got rotters” said Noah  
“So we won't make noise” said Beth and Noah nodded in agreement.  
“I can keep an eye on Dawn, she keeps a spare key to the elevator banks somewhere in her office, think you can find it?” said Noah.  
“Yeah” Beth assured.  
Beth’s heart began to beat faster, they had a plan now and they just needed to pull it off without getting caught.  
While Noah distracted Dawn, Beth snuck into her office. She quickly began looking over the desk and through the filing cabinets. She spotted an ID card belonging to Mr Trevitt and then it clicked why Dr Edwards had her kill him, the man was a doctor.  
Beth couldn’t dwell on that now and went to search Dawn’s draws. She spotted blood on the floor and gasped as she saw Joan’s body lying motionless on the floor, blood pooling from the deep gash on her wrist.  
Joan hadn’t turned yet and Beth quickly wrenched open one of Dawn’s draws, needing to find the key before Joan did turn. Beth found the key that opened the doors to the elevators and grabbed it  
“Well, well what do we have here?” said a voice.  
Beth jumped and turned to see Gorman standing in the room.  
“I hope I'm not interrupting anything” he asked.  
“Dawn was just asking for her key” Beth lied quickly.  
“Was she, now? see, I was just with Dawn and I don't seem to remember that”  
Beth was cornered now and was terrified of what Gorman was going to do.  
“It's okay, maybe she doesn't have to know, maybe there's another solution, you know? a little win-win for both of us” he suggested.  
He stepped closer to her, pushing his body into her.  
“So how about it, Bethie? We gonna work something out here?” he asked.  
Gorman slipped his hand up her shirt and palmed one of her breasts. He leant in to kiss her and Beth swiftly kneed him in the groin before striking him in the throat just like Max had taught her.  
Gorman roared in pain and reached for her, but Beth quickly grabbed the jar of lollipops on Dawn’s desk and smashed it over his head. Gorman slumped to the ground with a groan and Beth quickly fumbled through his pockets, her heart leaping when she pulled out her charm bracelet. Gorman grabbed at her again, but was saved as Joan reanimated, pouncing on him and tearing into Gorman’s neck. Beth quickly grabbed Gorman’s pistol as Joan feasted on him and ran from the room.  
Beth shoved the bracelet and the pistol into the waistband of her pants and forced herself to relax. She spotted Dawn and Noah talking and walked up to them, hoping Dawn wouldn’t suspect anything.  
“Beth, everything okay?” asked Dawn.  
“Oh, Joan was looking for you, I saw her and Gorman headed towards your office” said Beth, trying to sound as normal as possible.  
“Thank you, Beth” said Dawn.  
Dawn walked off, leaving Beth and Noah alone and Beth let out a breath.  
“You get the key?” Noah asked.  
Beth nodded and Noah quickly ran into the laundry room where he grabbed a stuffed laundry bag and then the two of them ran to the hallway that lead to the elevators. Beth gave Noah the key and he quickly unlocked the doors. They locked the doors behind them and rushed over to the open elevator shaft.  
“I’ll lower you down first” said Noah as Beth looked down the shaft.  
Noah pulled out a makeshift rope made from knotted sheets and began lowering Beth down. She slipped a couple of times, but she made it to the bottom of the shaft and Noah tied off the bed sheet rope before climbing down after her. They both looked through the hole at the pile of decaying bodies and Beth grimaced.  
“It's the only way out” said Noah.  
Beth nodded and they both jumped onto the pile. Beth almost threw up as they crawled over the bodies, but she made it off the pile without doing so.  
They crept silently through the darkness and they could hear walkers stumbling about the basement. None attacked, though luckily and Beth and Noah made it out into the blazing sunlight, finding themselves in the hospital car park.  
“Come on this way” said Noah, pointing to the gate at the other end of the car park.  
A dozen or so walkers were stumbling around the car park and instantly noticed them. The only way out was on the other side and Beth and Noah had no choice but to go through the walkers.  
Beth and Noah started running, dodging the walkers that grabbed at them. Beth had to fire on several walkers, taking the down, but the two of them made it to the chain link gate at the other end of the car park unharmed.  
They both quickly squeezed through the gap in the gate and continued on running. Beth had no idea where they were going and she gathered Noah didn’t either, but she knew they had to get as far away from the hospital as possible even if they were just replacing one dangerous situation for another.  
Beth and Noah stopped to catch their breaths, but there were dozens of walkers around them and they then heard shouts and gunfire from behind them. Beth looked at Noah and they both continued on, escaping into the danger filled city with Dawn’s men hot on their heels…


	4. Chapter 4

After leaving the Claimers behind, Max and the others headed for Terminus. Mika just stared out the windscreen as they drove, Max could see she was still trembling and he cursed Joe and men, wanting to kill them all over again. Max looked at his hands as they gripped the wheel, seeing they were still stained with Joe’s blood and wiped them as best he could on his pants. He then glanced in the back at Daryl and the man gave him a quick nod, indicating he was still good. Max turned back to the train tacks they had began to follow again and saw another sign for terminus, they were getting closer. Max still wanted check out the place first, not trusting anything now, especially after what they had just survived and didn't want to fight another battle so soon.  
They continued on and then Max noticed black smoke billowing into the sky and knew it couldn’t bode well. The smoke got thicker and when they came to the edge of a steep hill they saw the source of the smoke below, Terminus.  
It turned out Terminus was a massive train yard and the promised sanctuary was now on fire. Max and the others jumped out and looked down at the destruction. They could hear screaming and gunfire and could see a large number of walkers were pouring into the grounds.  
“Are we going to help?, the others might be down there” Mika asked.  
“It’s too risky” said Max.  
The place was doomed and they could hear more walkers coming through the woods, attracted by all the commotion. Max had no idea if their friends were even down there and he gave Daryl a look, who was thinking the same thing.  
“Let’s get out of here” said Max.  
Daryl and Mika agreed and they quickly drove away from the carnage.  
“So what do we do now Max?” asked Mika.  
Once again Max wasn’t sure and felt even more lost. When they were a far enough distance, Max stopped. They found a secure house and bunkered down again. Daryl went out to see he could find any sign of the others, but once again returned unsuccessful.  
Night soon fell and after a quick meal, Daryl took first watch. Max tried to get some sleep and he began to dream, which quickly turned into full blown nightmares.  
He was running through a foreboding forest full of snarling walkers, chasing a fleeting image of Beth as she ran through the trees ahead of him. He kept shouting her name but she only got further and further from him. He burst into a clearing and saw Beth standing in the middle, facing away from him. Max raced over to her, but she quickly vanished in a wisp of smoke and Max slumped to the ground.  
“Why didn’t you keep my daughter safe Max?” asked a voice.  
Max looked up to see Hershel standing over him as blood poured from a wound in his chest.  
“Where is she Max?” Hershel asked.  
“I don’t know, I’m sorry” Max whispered.  
“Find her Max, find my daughter” Hershel pleaded.  
“I don’t know where she is” Max said painfully.  
Hershel’s eyes filled with disappointment, and before Max could say anything else, he was awoken by Daryl shaking him. Max blinked in the darkness and when his eyes adjusted, saw Daryl giving him a concerned look.  
“Bad dreams?” he asked.  
“Yeah, you could say that” said Max as he sat up.  
Max couldn’t sleep any more even if he tried and was grateful to take second watch. Max’s dream had shaken him considerably and he just sat in the darkness, watching the door and listening to every sound of the night, wondering where Beth was and if she was ok.  
The morning sun soon crept in through the gaps in the dirty curtains and Max shook Mika and Daryl awake. Mika sat up from the couch, wiped the sleep from her eyes and yawned.  
“Morning” she said and seemed much better.  
“Morning, come, let’s make some breakfast” Max suggested to her.  
Mika nodded and soon the two of them had made a half decent meal. Daryl took his food with a nod of thanks and then both Mika and Daryl gave Max an expectant look.  
“We need to keep moving, keep looking for the others, if they made it to Terminus, they might have escaped” said Max, in a way of a plan.  
They then gathered up their gear and got back into the Bushmaster. Max had no idea where they were supposed to go or where to even begin to start looking. Beth was gone without a trace and now the only hope of reuniting with the others was now literally up in smoke.  
Max started up the Bushmaster and began driving with no destination in mind. They soon came to a gas station and Max decided to check it out. The Bushmaster still had plenty of fuel, but it wouldn’t hurt to check for more. Max pulled into the parking lot and around the building, out of sight just in case.  
Max told Mika to stay in the vehicle, she nodded and then he and Daryl investigated the gas station.  
They found it bone dry of fuel unsurprisingly and Max decided to quickly check the store before leaving. It too had been stripped clean, there were a few packets of chips and some candy but not much else.  
They were about to call it and leave when they heard the sound of an engine and Max signalled Daryl to get down. A dirt covered blue sedan pulled into the gas station and Max instantly noticed a white cross in the back windscreen.  
Max signalled to Daryl, pointing to the car and he looked, his eyes widening.  
“Think they know where Beth is?” he asked.  
“No idea, but I’m going to find out” reply Max.  
Two men got out of the vehicle and Max was taken back, seeing them dressed in police uniforms, complete with vests and badges.  
“What the fuck?” he whispered.  
The two men started to approach the store and Max motioned Daryl to get ready. The cops reached the front door and banged on the glass.  
“We ain’t going to find anything” Max heard one say.  
“No hurt in looking” said the other.  
“You just want new porn mags” said the first, jokingly.  
“Shut up, hello anybody in here?” said one of them, banging on the open door again.  
“There ain’t anybody here, grab ya tit mags and let’s go” said the second one.  
The two men entered the store and split up. One of them walked into the aisle Max and Daryl were in and froze as he saw the weapons pointed at him.  
“Whoa, easy” he said, holding up his hands.  
“What?” said the other cop.  
Max and Daryl leaped up and the other cop reached for his pistol in surprise.  
“Don’t, just don’t” yelled Max.  
Daryl rushed around to him, shoving his crossbow into the man’s face while Max continued to cover the first cop.  
“Who the hell are you guys?” asked the one Daryl was covering.  
“Shut up and get on the ground" said Max.  
Max and Daryl forced the two men onto their knees and quickly relieved them of their weapons before handcuffing them with their own cuffs.  
Max saw the cops even had name badges attached to their vest, learning they were called O'Donnell and Alvarado.  
“What the hell do you want?” asked the one called O'Donnell  
“Relax, we just want to ask you some questions" said Max.  
Max pulled the photo of Beth from his pocket and held up it up in front of them.  
“Two nights ago a vehicle with the same cross as yours took this girl, I want to know where she was taken" Max demanded.  
Both men looked at the photo and Max saw recognition in their eyes.  
“You've seen her, where is she?” he asked.  
“We don’t know anything about any girl buddy" said O'Donnell.  
“Yeah, I think you do, so let's not pretend you don’t” said Max.  
“I said we haven’t seen your girl” snapped O'Donnell.  
Max grabbed him and punched him, sending him crashing back into one of the shelves.  
“Where is she?” Max demanded.  
He drew his pistol and jammed it against the man’s head.  
“Wait, stop, her name is Beth right?” said the other one, Alvarado.  
Max dropped O'Donnell and then grabbed Alvarado, dragging him to his feet.  
“Where is she?” Max demanded again.  
“I’ll tell you, you don’t have to hurt us, we'll tell you what you want to know" he said.  
“Fucking shut up Alvarado" yelled O'Donnell.  
“Fuck you O'Donnell, I ain’t dying out here” Alvarado yelled back.  
“Where is she, where is Beth?” Max asked them.  
Suddenly O'Donnell leaped to his feet, his hands now free and crash tackled Max. Max was sent crashing through the shelf behind him and his pistol went flying.  
Max quickly head butted O’Donnell and he fell backwards where Daryl put a bolt through his neck. O'Donnell grasped at it desperately, but then slumped over dead. Max retrieved his pistol and aimed at Alvarado.  
“Wait, wait, he did that on his own, I still want to help” pleaded the man, backing away.  
“Prove it” snapped Max.  
“Your girl, Beth, she was brought in the night before, safe and alive, she is at our base of operations” said Alvarado quickly.  
“Where is that?” Max asked.  
“At the Grady memorial hospital, in Atlanta” he answered.  
“In the city?” asked Daryl.  
“Yeah, look if you take me back there I’m sure we can work something out” said Alvarado.  
“If you're lying you’ll end up like him” said Max.  
Alvarado looked at his fallen partner and nodded, fear evident in his eyes.  
“I’m telling you the truth” he said.  
Max grabbed Alvarado and the three of them walked out to the Bushmaster. Max then stopped, there was something else he needed to know.  
“How did your partner get free back there?” Max asked.  
“Spare key, old cop trick” Alvarado replied.  
“Where’s yours?” Max asked, jamming his pistol into the man’s throat.  
“On my belt, small pouch” he replied  
Max quickly grabbed the pouch Alvarado had mentioned, finding two small handcuff keys.  
“Any more?” Max asked.  
“No more, I swear” he replied.  
They walked around the gas station building to the Bushmaster and Max knocked on the door.  
“Mika, it’s us, ” said Max.  
Max heard the girl unlock the rear door and he opened it. Mika’s eyes widened and stood back as she saw Alvarado.  
“Go sit in the passenger seat Mika” said Max to her.  
Mika nodded and then went to sit in the seat, looking back with interest.  
“Get in” said Max to Alvarado.  
Alvarado got in the vehicle and allowed himself to be shackled to a hand grip on the roof. Daryl sat opposite and glared at the man, daring him to try anything.  
“Who’s that?” Mika whispered as Max sat next to her.  
“He’s with the group that took Beth, he’s going to take us to her” Max answered.  
“Really?” said Mika and  
Max just nodded in reply and started up the engine then drove back to the road.  
“Which way?” Max asked.  
“Left, this road will take us to Atlanta" said Alvarado.  
“It better” growled Daryl.  
Max began following the road, he hoped Alvarado was telling the truth, that his people did have Beth safe and sound and that a reunion was indeed possible.  
“So what’s the deal with your people, is Beth a prisoner or will she be free to go?” Max asked, glancing back at Alvarado. The man didn’t respond and Daryl poked him in the ribs.  
“Answer the man” said Daryl.  
“Look, I’m not going to lie, the situation is complicated, the one in charge, Dawn, she expects payment from those we save, people have to work off their debt, earn their food, board and protection” Alvarado explained.  
“So she is a prisoner” said Max.  
“In a way, yes” said Alvarado.  
“In a way?” asked Daryl with a snort.  
“How many men do you have?, how many civilians?, how much fire power do you have?, tell me everything” Max demanded.  
Alvarado was silent for a moment, but then started talking.  
“There are nine officers now, including myself and a small number of civilians, I don’t know the exact number, twenty maybe?” he said  
“And weapons?” Max asked.  
“Mostly pistols, a couple of rifles and shotguns” Alvarado replied.  
“How fortified is the hospital?” Max asked.  
Alvarado looked down, obviously not wanting to reveal everything.  
“Keep talking” said Daryl.  
“We’ve only secured the topmost floors, we have guards on the stairwells and on the roof” said Alvarado.  
“You’re going to draw me a map of everything” said Max.  
“Ok, but look, Dawn will want me back, she needs her officers, we set up a trade, Beth for me, I know I can convince her to go through with it” said Alvarado  
“And what do we tell Dawn about your partner?” Max asked.  
“Rotters got him” said Alvarado simply.  
“Just like that?” asked Daryl.  
“Yeah, rotters got him before you found me” he replied.  
Max nodded and some plans began to form in his head. A simple trade would be easier, less potential bloodshed, but Max was going to do anything to get Beth back, even if that meant he had to take Alvarado’s group head on. Max could count on Daryl but he couldn’t ask the man to embark on a possible suicide mission so Max would have to go it alone. It was daunting thought, but Max had faced worse in his career.  
They continued on and Max soon saw a mileage sign with Atlanta on it. Alvarado was telling the truth so far and Max coaxed a little more speed out of the Bushmaster.  
They came round a bend in the road and Max swore as he saw a white bus heading towards them. Max quickly slammed on the brakes and both vehicles screeched to a stop just meters from each other.  
“What the fuck is this now?” Max asked.  
Suddenly the side door of the bus was flung open and Maggie leaped out, followed by Glenn and Rick. Max thought he was hallucinating at first, but then Mika let out a gasp, she could see them too.  
“Daryl you need to get up here” said Max.  
Daryl poked his head into the cab and his eyes widened as well as he saw Rick and the others pile out of the bus. Quite a large number of the group had survived the prison and were now all standing out on the road. Max also saw five strangers with them, though one of them Max swore he had seen before.  
Mika wrenched open her door and jumped down as Daryl rushed out the back door. Max went to open his door but then turned to Alvarado and shot him a warning look.  
“You try anything, you die” he said.  
“I’m won’t, I promise” said the man.  
Max then stepped down from the Bushmaster and greeted his lost friends. They all looked exhausted and battered but all seemed pleased to see Daryl, Max and Mika. Mika and Lizzie were hugging each other and Daryl had rushed over to Carol, pulling her into a deep hug as well. Rick and Carl greeted Max and Rick held out his hand. Max took it and the two men shook.  
“Good to see you Max” said Rick.  
“Yeah, you too Rick, ” said Max in return.  
Max gave Carl grin, but it faded as Maggie stepped up to him with a distressed look on her face.  
“Where is Beth?” she asked, her voice trembling.  
Max didn’t answer quickly enough and Maggie dropped to her knees, obviously fearing the worst.  
“Is she dead?” she cried out as Glenn rushed to comfort her.  
“No, she got out with us, but was taken, she is alive though” Max said quickly.  
“Where is she?” Maggie asked in a whisper.  
Max and Daryl exchanged glances and they both looked to the Bushmaster.  
“She’s in Atlanta” Max explained.  
“Atlanta?” asked Rick.  
“Yeah, she’s in some hospital” answered Daryl.  
“How do you know this?” asked Rick.  
Max led them to the back of the Bushmaster and revealed Alvarado, still shackled up.  
“This is Alvarado, he’s part of the group that took Beth” Max explained.  
Rick raised his eyebrow with interest as he saw Alvarado in his cop uniform and then gave Max an intrigued look.  
“They’re cops?” asked Rick.  
“Apparently so” said Max.  
“We’re going to get Beth back right?” asked Maggie.  
“Yeah, we are, ” said Max firmly.  
“Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we ain’t going to Atlanta” said one of the group’s new members loudly.  
Max raised his eyebrow and looked the man over. He was Max’s height and same build but maybe a decade or so older. Max could tell the man was military even without the obvious dog tags hanging from his neck and could definitely handle himself.  
“And you are?” Max asked.  
The man ignored him and turned to Rick and the others.  
“We agreed to head to DC, you all made a promise last night” he said.  
Rick took the man aside to speak to him and Max took a moment to study the other new companions. One of them was dressed in priest garb complete with clerical collar, the other man was standing nervously to the side and looked like he in the beginning stages of meltdown as one of the women seemed to be watching over him. Max locked eyes with the second woman and scowled as he suddenly remembered her.  
“What is she doing here?” Max asked as the woman stepped backwards, fear in her eyes.  
“She’s with us” said Glenn, stepping between Max and the woman.  
“She was there, standing right next to the Governor” said Max.  
“Yes, she was there, but she changed sides” said Rick.  
“Tara helped me escape the prison, kept me alive” explained Glenn.  
“It’s ok Max, she’s with us now” said Maggie.  
Max just nodded and he shared a look with Daryl who just scowled.  
“Ok, I think we might need to discuss what to do next” said Rick calmly.  
“Nothing to discuss Rick, I’m getting Beth back, I’ve wasted too much time already” said Max.  
“And I said we are not going to Atlanta, we are all going to Washington” said the redhead gruffly.  
“Look mate, I don’t know you and don’t give a fuck what you want” snapped Max angrily.  
“Listen here fuck nuts” snarled the man, stepping closer to Max.  
Rick, Tyreese and Glenn quickly forced them apart and stood between them.  
“Just cool it guys” said Tyreese.  
“Max there is something you need to know” said Rick.  
“And what’s that?” asked Max.  
“Max, Eugene over there has the cure” said Glenn.  
Max stared at him and then at Rick, who nodded, confirming Glenn’s story.  
“What?” Max asked.  
“He can stop it all, end the walkers for good, he just needs to get to DC” said Sasha.  
Max couldn’t believe what he was hearing, a cure sounded too good to be true. He glanced at Eugene, who looked like was about to throw up and Max doubted he had the cure to anything.  
“Look, even if he has the cure, I’m still going to get Beth back” said Max, not convinced yet.  
“And I’m going as well” said Maggie firmly.  
“Maggie..” said Glenn.  
“I need to do this Glenn, I need to get my sister back” said Maggie.  
“Maggie we need to stick together” said Rick.  
“Then let’s go to Atlanta” said Maggie  
“No, I’m not risking Eugene, not happening” said the redhead  
Max was getting angry now, the conversation was just going in circles and they were wasting precious daylight, just standing and arguing on the road.  
“Look I’m done with this, I’m going to Atlanta, today” said Max.  
Max glanced at Daryl who nodded, still on board with getting Beth back. It was Carol who then spoke up, addressing everyone  
“What if we wait one more day, we rescue Beth and then we all go to DC?” she suggested.  
No one spoke, but Max could see the group mulling it over and a majority seemed to be ok with the idea.  
“Abraham, it could work, just one more day, Washington will still be there tomorrow” said the young Latina woman.  
She placed her hand on his chest and looked up at him. Abraham features softened and then he sighed.  
“One more day, then we leave with or without you” he said gruffly  
Max nodded, not caring either way, but was glad some sort of agreement had been made.  
“Ok then Maggie and Daryl are with me, who else?” he asked.  
“I’ll go” said Rick and Max nodded.  
Glenn wouldn’t go anywhere without Maggie so he was in and Tyreese and Sasha offered to go as well. Max didn’t need everyone, just enough fighters in case they needed to extract Beth by force and the seven man team would do nicely.  
The rest of the group would head back to Father Gabriel’s church to await Max and the others return. There was a quick farewell of hugs and kisses, then the groups separated to their chosen vehicles.  
Max and his team climbed into the Bushmaster and Maggie took the passenger seat, giving Max a smile.  
“Let’s go get my sister” she said.  
Max couldn’t agree more, he looked in the back at the rescue team to ensure they were seated and then began the journey to Atlanta.  
As they drove, Max could hear Rick interrogating Alvarado, trying to get as much information out of him as possible and Maggie began to fill Max in on the last few days.  
She, Sasha and Bob had gone after the prison bus, thinking Beth and Glenn were on board but found it overrun with turned walkers. Max told her they had come across the bus too, just after them and picked up their trail through the woods, leading them to the train tracks and the Terminus sign.  
Carol, Karen and Tyreese had gotten most of the adults and children onto the bus, but the escape was too much for some of the older passengers, especially in their weakened state and had passed away. The result had been chaos and then Carol, Karen and Tyreese, with Lizzie and Judith in tow were forced to flee on foot.  
Maggie went on to explain how Rick, Carl and Michonne had ended up together and found their way to Terminus as well. Glenn had been the last to leave the prison, he had gotten off the bus looking for Maggie and had passed out. Tara had helped him and soon crossed paths with Abraham and his crew.  
They all somehow made it to Terminus but it wasn't a safe haven, but a trap, the inhabitants there had resorted to cannibalism.  
“No shit, really?” Max asked in disbelief.  
“Yeah, and if Carol and Tyreese hadn’t created a big enough distraction for us to escape, we probably would have all been food by now” said Maggie.  
“Holy shit” said Max.  
“But we got out and reunited with Carol, Tyreese, Karen and the girls, we then came across Father Gabriel in the woods who took us to his church and we thought we were safe but then we lost Bob” Maggie said softly, glancing back at Sasha.  
“What happened?” Max asked.  
“Some of the people from Terminus survived, came after us during the night and adducted Bob, cut his leg off and ate it in front of him” said Maggie  
Max looked at Maggie with his eyes wide and she grimaced.  
“Then they came for the rest of us, but we ambushed them, took them all out” she said.  
“Sounds like we all had a tough couple of days” said Max.  
“How bout you?, how did Beth get taken?” Maggie then asked.  
Max was dreading this but Maggie deserved to know.  
“We were holed up in a house for the night when we were over run by a herd, Beth managed to escape into the woods where she was just taken” Max explained.  
“His people” said Maggie, indicating Alvarado.  
“Yeah, didn’t know that at the time, we chased after the car that took her but I lost her” replied Max.  
He trailed off and fell silent, avoiding Maggie’s gaze.  
“You did what you could Max, you keep her alive, that’s what matters”  
“I lost her though” said Max.  
“It wasn’t your fault Max, I don’t blame you Max, and she is still alive Max, we are going to get her back” said Maggie and gave him a warm smile.  
“Yeah, yeah, we are, ” said Max.  
They continued on getting closer and closer to Atlanta, powering down the empty roads  
“So you think that guy really has the cure?” Max then asked.  
“You think he might be lying?” asked Maggie in reply.  
“I don’t know, not saying he is, its just that Washington was an absolute shit storm when I was there, the government was evacuating all essential personnel from the city and I’m guessing if there was a team of scientists who could stop this, they would have been evacuated first” said Max.  
“Well, Abraham and Rosita seem pretty convinced Eugene has the cure” said Maggie.  
Max just nodded, fixing the world and ending the walkers did sound amazing, but he put it out of his mind for the moment, focusing on the task at hand, he could worry about putting the world back together after he had rescued Beth.  
He forced a little more speed out of the Bushmaster as he saw another mileage sign. A little smile appeared on his face as saw they were getting closer and closer and he knew no matter what happened, he would have Beth back in his arms by the end of the day…


	5. Chapter 5

Beth and Noah ran until their lungs gave out and then ran some more. They had to get off the streets and quickly before Dawn’s officers caught them.  
“We need to hide” Beth yelled at Noah as she heard the sound of a vehicle close behind them.  
Noah nodded in agreement and they both ducked down a side street, hiding behind a large dumpster. Beth peeked her head around the dumpster and saw a car stop in the road by the side street. She ducked her head back out of sight and for a few heart wrenching moments, Beth held her breath and gripped her stolen pistol. Beth hoped she wouldn’t have to use it, but thankfully she heard the car drive off.  
Beth let out the breath and gave Noah a relieved look, who gave her one back.  
“That was close” she said.  
“We have to get off the streets, they won’t stop looking” said Noah.  
Beth nodded and they looked around, hoping they could hide in one of the surrounding buildings. She spotted a small loading dock down the street and pointed it out to Noah.  
“Let’s try there” Beth suggested.  
They quickly ran down the street and up the small ramp onto the loading dock. They saw a locked door and rushed over to it.  
“We need something to open it” said Noah.  
They looked around and Beth saw a pickup truck parked in the street. They ran over to it, finding it unlocked. Beth checked for keys first and found them still in the ignition. She turned them, hoping by some miracle the engine still worked, but the vehicle was dead. She then quickly rummaged through the glove compartment and found a working flashlight.  
“Will this work?” asked Noah.  
He held up a tire iron he had found in the back and Beth nodded They ran back over to the door and Noah jammed the tire iron in the door gap. He tried to pry the door open, but it wouldn’t budge and Beth wished Max was with them, he would just rip the door open in one go.  
“Won’t budge” said Noah  
“Try again” said Beth desperately, seeing several walkers heading towards them and knowing Dawn’s men could find them at any moment.  
Noah tried again, harder and the lock gave way. A dark hallway was revealed, Beth had no idea what awaited inside, but they had no choice. Beth stepped cautiously through the door with her pistol up and Noah followed her, gripping the tire iron.  
“Close the door” she said to Noah.  
He did so and Beth switched on the flashlight. They crept quietly down the dark hallway, listening for any sign of danger.  
They came to the end of the hallway and found themselves in a large camping store. The place was dimly lit by light coming down from several skylights and Beth switched off her flashlight.  
“We probably should keep moving” suggested Noah  
“Do you think they know about this place?” Beth asked.  
”I don’t know, why?” asked Noah in reply.  
“We can’t just keeping running, they’ll soon catch us, we should hide out here, they’ll have to give up looking sometime” said Beth.  
“Dawn won’t give up, but she will call them back when it gets dark” said Noah.  
It was already late afternoon and night wasn’t far off. Even though Beth wanted to be far away from Grady and Dawn, it was too dangerous to be out after dark.  
“Ok, so we hide out here” said Beth.  
Noah nodded and they quickly made sure there were no dangers. They found none but one of the main doors was smashed open so Beth and Noah barricaded it as best they could before doing so to all the doors.  
Once they were satisfied the store was completely secure and danger free, they looked around more. Most of the store had been raided and things were strewn everywhere. Beth noticed there was still a lot of clothes left and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt in her size off the racks. She walked into the change rooms and stripped out of her horrible sweaty, blood stained scrubs and slipped on the clean clothes.  
There was a mirror in the change room and Beth froze as she saw her face in the reflection. She just stared at herself and tenderly touched the cut on her cheek.  
Everything that had happened that day was finally taking its toll on her. Beth slumped down onto the floor and she began to sob silently. She wanted her father back, she wanted Maggie and she wanted to be safe in Max’s arms.  
“You ok in there Beth?” asked Noah through the door.  
“Um, yeah” said Beth.  
She wiped her eyes and stood up to open the door. As she did, Beth saw the polaroids and her charm bracelet sticking out from the pocket of her discarded scrubs on the floor. They were like a beacon of light in the mess and Beth quickly picked them up.  
She opened the door, finding Noah was standing outside, giving her a concerned look.  
“You sure you’re ok?” he asked  
“I will be” she said and Noah nodded.  
“I um found some packs we can use and these, but there is not much else” said Noah as he held up two hiking packs and a small collection of knives.  
Beth nodded, taking one of the packs and one of the knives. Noah grabbed himself some clean clothes and Beth continued to explore. She walked through an open door marked private, finding a little break area for the staff.  
Beth went through all the cupboards, they were mostly empty of useful items, but she did spot a small backpack in one of them. She opened it up and pulled out two bottles of sports drink and some candy bars. Beth opened one of the drinks and took a swig, she grimaced at the sweet orange taste, but it quenched her thirst for the moment.  
“Find anything?” asked Noah as he came into the room.  
She tossed him the unopened bottle and Noah caught it.  
“Mountain blast?” he asked, reading the label.  
“Yeah already picked the orange flavour” said Beth.  
They quickly scoffed down the candy bars, they didn’t taste all that great but they were satisfying.  
“We’ll have to find something better than this soon” said Noah.  
“Yeah” said Beth in agreement  
They then made a makeshift camp in the store with some of the sleeping bags and camping mattresses that hadn’t been looted. It wasn’t luxury, but it would do and it was only for the night, Beth fully intended to be on their way out of the city by early morning.  
Beth pulled the polaroids and her charm bracelet out to look at them again. She tried to put the bracelet on her wrist, but had trouble doing so.  
“Um Noah, can you..?” she asked.  
Noah nodded and placed the bracelet on her wrist.  
“Thanks” said Beth  
“No worries, it’s beautiful” said Noah  
“It was a birthday gift from my boyfriend” said Beth and passed the polaroid of her and Max to Noah.  
“What’s his name?” Noah asked.  
“Max” Beth replied with a smile.  
Noah handed the polaroid back and Beth then handed him the other polaroid.  
“And that’s my dad and sister” she said.  
“They still..?” Noah asked.  
“Maggie is alive I think, but my dad is dead” Beth replied.  
“Oh, I’m sorry” said Noah.  
“He was murdered” said Beth softly.  
Beth could see Noah didn’t know what to say and she couldn’t blame him. She also realised it had been only a few days since her father’s death, so much had happened since then and she hadn’t even had time to mourn him.  
“You want to find Max and your sister don’t you?”asked Noah, breaking the silence and Beth nodded.  
“Yeah, I really do” she said.  
“Ok, how bout we go find them” he said and Beth looked at him in surprise.  
“What about finding your mum?” Beth asked.  
“I haven’t seen her in a year I don’t know if she is still alive or if my community is still standing” said Noah.  
“You sure?” asked Beth  
“Yeah, besides Virginia is so far away, your family will be closer right?” said Noah.  
“Max and I were heading to a place called Terminus, and so was Maggie” said Beth in reply.  
“Ok, so that can’t be too far away” said Noah.  
“I don’t know, maybe we can find a map or something?” said Beth.  
They looked around the front counter and found some maps for campers and hikers. Beth opened them up and began looking over them. She began following the marked train lines and her heart leaped as she read the word Terminus.  
“Oh, here it is” she said.  
Noah looked where she was pointing and smiled.  
“Ok, so we start early in the morning, find a working car and we get out of the city” said Noah.  
“Sounds good” said Beth happily.  
They decided to get some sleep and Beth took first watch. As Noah slept, Beth looked at the polaroids and played with her bracelet, hoping she and Noah would be able to escape the city. She hoped Max and Maggie would be at Terminus and that she and Noah could make their way there.  
It was soon time to wake Noah up and as he took his watch, Beth lay down on her sleeping bag. She was exhausted and was out cold in no time. She soon began to have dreams of reunion with Max and Maggie and rushing into Max’s arms. She then began to dream of Max roaming his hands and his lips over her body as he lay her down on a bed of soft sheets and made love to her.  
When Beth woke, she was all flushed and restless from the vivid dreams and hoped she would make them a reality. She sat up and saw light streaming through the skylights.  
“Oh you’re awake, I was just about to wake you, sleep ok?” said Noah and Beth blushed.  
“Um, yeah, ok I guess” said replied.  
“We should get going, they’ll be looking for us again soon” said Noah.  
Beth couldn’t agree more and they quickly packed up their things. They carefully opened the door to the loading dock and peeked out.  
“Ok, which way?” Beth said to Noah when they couldn’t see any danger.  
“This way” he said.  
They began to make their way through the city, looking and listening out for walkers or Dawn’s officers, but It seemed luck was on their side so far. They tried every vehicle they came across but neither Beth or Noah knew how to hot wire a car and the ones they found with keys were either dead, out of gas or both.  
They continued on foot and by midday they had made it a good way across the city, avoiding walkers where ever they could. They were now in a run down industrial area filled with warehouses and had broken into one of them to rest  
Beth took a small swig of her sports drink and wished she had some real water. She was hungry but they had eaten the only food they had found the night before.  
“Think they’ve given up?” she asked hopefully.  
“Dawn won’t give up” said Noah.  
Beth and Noah picked up their things and they continued on. Beth was surprised but glad that they hadn’t run into any trouble, but she knew that luck would run out sooner or later.  
Trouble found them sooner though, and as they turned down a street, they were surprised by a small group of walkers. One of them grabbed Noah and Beth tried her best to take them out with her knife, but she no choice but to start shooting them.  
“Thanks” said Noah when the walkers were taken care of.  
“No problem” said Beth.  
“They probably heard the shots, we need to move” said Noah.  
Beth nodded, not only would Dawn’s officers have heard the shots, but other walkers would be attracted to them as well. Beth’s pistol was now empty and useless and she shoved it into her pack.  
They continued on but then Beth heard the heart wrenching sound of a vehicle close by.  
“We need to hide, now” she said.  
Before they had time to react, the car they had just heard appeared on the street and began speeding towards them.  
“Run” Beth yelled.  
They both started running towards the closest warehouse door. Noah was closer and reached the door first, but Dawn’s officers cut Beth off with their car, blocking her escape. She locked eyes with Noah as the officers, Licari and Tanaka jumped out of the car.  
“Noah run, save yourself” she screamed.  
Beth began running in the opposite direction, but she didn’t get far though, and was tackled to the ground by Tanaka.  
“Let me go” she yelled and began kicking and punching him, forcing Licari to come to assist.  
“Stop resisting Beth” said Tanaka.  
“Get off me” she yelled in frustration.  
As they held her down and wrestled her arms behind to handcuff her, Beth saw Noah still standing by the door  
“Noah stay where you are” yelled Licari as he got up and started running for him.  
“Noah run, just go” Beth screamed.  
Noah nodded and quickly pulled the door closed behind him just as the Licari reached it, banging his fist uselessly on the now locked door.  
Tanaka pulled Beth to her feet and escorted her over to his vehicle.  
“Don’t worry, we’ll get Noah” said Tanaka  
Beth just snorted and glared as he opened the car door. Another car, then drove up and two more officers, Sheppard and Lamson got out.  
“Noah, went through that door over there he can’t have gotten far” said Tanaka.  
The two officers nodded and rushed over to Licari, who was trying to wrench open the locked door. Beth was forced into the back seat of the car and Tanaka then got into the driver's seat to drive Beth back to Grady.  
The trip was short and when they reached the car park, Beth was quickly marched upstairs and into Dawn’s office. She was already waiting and she glared angrily at Beth as Tanaka removed Beth’s cuffs. Tanaka left and Beth could see Gorman and Joan’s bodies had been removed, but she could still see small blood stains.  
“Who the hell do you think you are?” asked Dawn angrily, breaking the silence.  
Beth didn’t respond and Dawn slammed a badge down on the desk. Beth saw Gorman’s name on the badge and stared defiantly at Dawn.  
“You’re a cop killer Beth” said Dawn  
“I would never kill somebody” said Beth.  
“But you did, I saw the smashed jar, the others don't know what you did, they think Joan was trying to get back at me and that Gorman was in the wrong place at the wrong time”said Dawn.  
“Gorman attacked me, just like he attacked Joan, just like you let him, you know what's happening here and you let it happen” said Beth angrily.  
”So that we make it” snapped Dawn.  
“No one's coming Dawn, no one, we're all gonna die and you let this happen, for nothing” yelled Beth.  
Dawn looked shocked for a moment, then struck her. Beth flinched and stumbled backwards, holding her face.  
“Go get yourself cleaned up” said Dawn  
Beth just snorted and walked out of Dawn’s office where she ran into Dr Edwards  
“Beth, I heard you were back” he said.  
Beth just glared at him and went to brush past him.  
“I should probably stitch that up for you” he said gently.  
Beth didn’t want to be anywhere near him, but she could feel the blood from her fresh cut, spilling down her face and knew it needed tending to.  
Dr Edwards led her into his office and proceeded to stitch her up. Beth grimaced through the whole thing and was glad when it was over.  
“Well, that should about do it” he said as he finished up.  
Beth just glared at him and he made to leave the office.  
“How did you know Trevitt was a doctor?” Beth asked, stopping Dr Edwards at the door.  
“That's why you had me give him the wrong meds, right?, why you had me kill him, because if he had lived, there'd be another doctor and Dawn wouldn't need you and she wouldn't protect you” said Beth and Dr Edwards sighed, giving her a pained look.  
“Trevitt was an oncologist at St. Ignatius, I knew him, they would have kicked me out, maybe Gorman, maybe he would have killed me, I didn't have a choice Beth” he said.  
“Use everything you can use I guess” Beth said with contempt.  
Dr Edwards opened his mouth to respond, but Dawn walked into the room.  
“She good to go?” she asked.  
“She should be ready to jump back into it in a couple more days” said Dr Edwards.  
“Well good because you and Noah are going to have to do a lot to make up for your indiscretions” said Dawn, addressing Beth.  
Beth just snorted and shook her head in response and Dawn glared at her.  
“We’ll find Noah, they always come back, everyone does” said Dawn and then raised her radio to her face.  
“Lamson it’s Dawn, what’s your sit rep with Noah?” asked Dawn as if to goad Beth  
There was only silence and Dawn smirk’s faded. It was replaced with a scowl and Beth couldn’t help feeling a little satisfaction.  
“Lamson it’s Dawn come in” said Dawn gruffly.  
Beth decided it was time to leave and she didn’t want or need to hear anything more. She got up to walk out of the room, but Beth’s eyes widened and her heart almost stopped when it was Max’s voice that came through the radio…


	6. Chapter 6

Max stared intently out the windscreen of the Bushmaster as they powered towards Atlanta and Beth. Maggie’s story about Terminus and the people there being cannibals had disconcerted Max somewhat, but he was thankful Maggie and the others had escaped. Max wondered what had happened to those people that they resorted to eating the living, just like the dead that already plagued the world.  
As Max was contemplating this Rick poked his head into the cab and switched seats with Maggie.  
“Think this Dawn will go for the trade?” Rick asked Max.  
“She better, but the impression that I got is that she needs her officers” said Max.  
“You trust everything he told you?” Rick asked, referring to Alvarado  
“Not entirely, but if he’s lying, he’ll know what will happen to him” and Rick gave him an intrigued look.  
“He had a partner” Max said simply.  
Rick nodded, understanding and then gave Max a more serious look  
“Listen Max, a trade might work, but we should take the place by force” said Rick.  
“If it comes to that, we will but we’re going with the trade first” said Max firmly.  
“We should take them by surprise Max while we have the upper hand, once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go in, cut the locks on one of the stairways and take the place” said Rick.  
Max studied the man intently, he looked just as tired and exhausted as Max felt, but there was a darkness and blood lust in Rick’s eyes that Max didn’t like.  
“We need to teach these people, they need to pay the price for taking one of our own” growled Rick.  
Max realised he wasn’t talking about just Beth, Rick was making this personal and Max couldn’t have that.  
“Rick as much I want to do that, we are going with the trade, too many things could go wrong, the trade is the best way to go, we could even lure more of them out and get more of them to trade” said Max calmly.  
“I think that’s a mistake, we’re going with my plan, we’re going to get Beth back my way” said Rick simply.  
Max had enough and he slammed on the brakes, pulling the Bushmaster to stop. Everyone was jostled about, but Max didn’t care and glared at Rick.  
“Ok Rick, you need to understand something right now, you’re not calling the shots on anything, got it?, you’re just along for the ride”said Max angrily.  
“What’s going on?” asked Glenn but Max ignored him.  
“I get it Rick, you’ve been through some shit and you want revenge, I get that, but I’m going to need you to fucking lock that shit down, I don’t need or want the kind of unhinged shit that you got going on right now and I’m certainly not letting your personal fucking revenge needs jeopardize my getting Beth back” said Max.  
‘You need my help” said Rick low and threatening.  
“I really don’t want your kind of help Rick, your plan will get Beth killed” said Max.  
“Ok gents, I think we all just need to calm down” suggested Tyreese.  
“Rick we are going to trade Alvarado for Beth end of story”said Max.  
The two men just stared at each other with the only sound coming from the Bushmaster’s engine.  
“Rick we are going with Max’s plan” said Maggie breaking the tension.  
“Dawn will go for the trade, I promise” said Alvarado, speaking up.  
Rick knowing he was outnumbered, got up and slipped into the back. Tyreese took his seat and Max slid the Bushmaster into gear before continuing on.  
“He’s still a little on edge from last night, he’s just trying to keep everyone alive” said Tyreese gently.  
Max just snorted and didn’t respond, instead he channelled his anger and focused on the mission.  
They soon reached the outskirts of the city and Max looked into the back.  
“Where now?” he asked.  
Alvarado began to direct them the best way to the hospital and Max began following his directions. As they began to make their way deeper into the city, Alvarado’s radio that Max had on the dash suddenly burst to life.  
“Dawn it’s Licari, we’ve heard gunshots, could be Beth and Noah” said a voice.  
Max jammed on the brakes and he grabbed the radio as the Bushmaster slid to a stop.  
“Where?” asked a woman’s voice on the radio  
“Near the old warehouse district, checking it out now” said the first voice.  
“Keep me posted” said the second voice, which Max could only assume was Dawn.  
“Where is that?” asked Maggie.  
“It's close, it’s on the way, take that road down there and keep going left” said Alvarado.  
Max jammed down the accelerator and the Bushmaster shot forward again, tearing through the walker filled streets. Max saw old crumbling warehouses and knew they were going in the right direction.  
The radio burst to life again with the same male voice as before.  
“Dawn, we got Beth I’m heading back now, but Noah escaped” he said.  
“Bring Beth back here now and find Noah”  
“Copy that, Lamson, Sheppard and Licari went after him”  
Max cursed loudly and glanced back at Alvarado  
“Which way to the hospital from here” Max yelled.  
“Just keep going this way, it’s on the other side of the warehouse district” said Alvarado  
Max picked up the pace and as he roared down a street, he suddenly saw a teenage boy burst from an open warehouse door ahead of them and start running across the street with three uniformed officers running after him. One of them tackled the kid forcing him to the ground and then all four were startled by the Bushmaster as it screeched to a halt in front of them.  
Max leaped down and quickly drew his pistol, aiming it at the cops. They all tried to reach for their weapons, but found themselves quickly surrounded.  
“What do you want?, whatever this is, we can help” said one of them.  
"Shut up and get on the ground" said Max  
The two men and the woman looked at each other then complied. Daryl and Sasha quickly relieved the officers of the pistols, tossing them aside and Rick handcuffed them. Max then held his hand out to the kid and pulled him to his feet.  
"Thanks, hey, it’s Max right?" said the kid and Max looked at him in surprise.  
"I'm Noah, I'm friends with Beth, we got out together, but they got her" the kid then explained.  
“Hey, we got walkers” said Glenn.  
Max looked where he was pointing and saw a dozen or so walkers heading towards them.  
“Get them up, we’ll continue this in there” said Max pointing to the warehouse, Noah and the officers had just come from.  
The others pulled the officers to their feet and led them into the warehouse. Max drove the Bushmaster inside and Glenn and Maggie quickly shut the door.  
“What is this all about?” asked the woman officer.  
“Beth, we just want Beth” said Max.  
The three officers all looked at each  
“You want to trade us?” asked the woman officer, whose name badge read Sheppard.  
“Exactly” said Max.  
“It would work if you had different cops to trade, Dawn's running Grady into the ground, a bunch of us want her out and she knows it, pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her too”  
“Yeah, what about this one, he valuable to Dawn?” Max asked.  
He opened the Bushmaster and quickly pulled Alvarado out.  
The three officers' eyes widened in surprise as they saw their fellow colleague.  
“Alvarado?”  
“Yeah, he told me Dawn would want him back” said Max.  
“Even so, there's a good chance you can't make this deal work and that'll leave us all dead, but if you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves and then we'll let Beth go and this is over” said Sheppard.  
“No, we're not gonna do that” said Lamson  
“Do you want to die?” said Sheppard to Lamson.  
“No, I just need you to shut up right now, we can make this work” said Lamson.  
The officers radio’s crackled and Dawn’s voice came through asking for a sit rep on Noah.  
“Ok, this is it” said Max.  
“She'll tell you she won't make a deal, she'll tell you she won't compromise, but she will, she always does” said Lamson and Alvarado nodded in agreement.  
“Lamson it’s Dawn come in” said Dawn.  
Max held the held up the radio and pressed the talk button.  
“Officer Lerner, my name is Maxwell Knight, my friends and I have four of your officers, Lamson, Sheppard, Licari and Alvarado in our custody”  
There was a pause and Dawn responded.  
“What do you want?” she asked.  
“I want to propose a simple trade, your four officers for Beth” Max replied.  
Max held the radio in front of them and Lamson spoke up.  
“Dawn it’s Lamson he is telling the truth, he has all four of us like he says, he just wants Beth that’s all” said Lamson.  
“I’m afraid I can’t help you mister Knight” said Dawn and Max sighed.  
“Your officers haven’t been harmed in any way, but that can change, you willing to risk losing four of your men, I simply want to trade their lives for Beth’s, a simple trade that’s all” said Max, speaking into the radio again.  
There was a long pause of silence and then Dawn spoke again  
“I guess I have no choice but to agree to the terms Mr Knight” she said and there was a collective sigh of relief.  
“Excellent, you’ve made the right decision officer, now put Beth on, I need to hear her voice” said Max.  
There was another pause and then the voice that Max had been longing to here for the past two days came on.  
“Max?” asked Beth.  
“Its me Beth, listen I’m coming to get you ok, you sit tight, this will all be over soon I promise” said Max.  
Things were happening, but Max couldn’t afford to relax, the trade terms may have been negotiated but it was still far from over. He locked eyes with Rick and the man gave him a small nod back. Rick had calmed down somewhat, but Max could still see the murderous glint in his eye.  
Max then had Glenn, Sasha and Tyreese find the officer’s vehicle. They quickly found it and returned with it. Max then split the officers up, two would go with Glenn and Daryl in the officer's squad car while the other two would go with the rest of the group in the Bushmaster.  
The trip to the hospital was quick and Max and the group soon pulled into the hospital’s car park. They got out and looked up at the decaying building.  
“Look, if this does go south, we kill them first” said Max, indicating their hostages and the others agreed.  
An officer met them at the door and escorted them up the stairs where they came out into a long hallway and Max could see several officers standing down the other end. One of them was standing out in front and Max guessed that could only be Dawn.  
“Ok, that’s far enough” she said, confirming Max’s suspicions.  
“Where’s Beth?” Max asked as the two groups stared at each other.  
Dawn indicated to one of her officers behind her and Beth stepped out of a room. Max’s eyes narrowed and his anger rose as he saw her. Beth’s face was bruised and battered and one of her arms was in a cast. She was alive though, and Max saw her face and eyes light up as she saw them.  
Max sent the first two officers over and they quickly joined their people.  
“Now you send Beth” said Max as calmly as he could.  
Beth made her trip over, but as she passed Dawn, she put her hand out to stop Beth.  
“I’m going to need Noah as well” said Dawn.  
“No that wasn’t part of the deal” growled Max.  
“Noah was my ward, Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I’m going to need him back” said Dawn  
“No, he ain't staying” said Max firmly.  
“He's one of mine” said Dawn.  
You don’t own him lady, the kid wants to go with us” said Max.  
“Well then we don't have a deal” said Dawn.  
Dawn then grabbed Beth roughly by the arm and put her hand on her pistol.  
“Let her go” said Max, firmly.  
“Give me Noah and you can have Beth” said Dawn.  
Max locked eyes with Beth, he could tell she was scared, but there was also fury in her eyes and she then wrenched her hand from Dawn’s grip.  
“Just let us go Dawn” said Beth.  
Beth gave Dawn a fierce glare and then began to walk away from her. Max saw Dawn draw her pistol and he reacted without thinking, drew his own pistol and shot Dawn twice.  
Dawn fell to her knees, her eyes filled with fear and shock and then she slumped over dead. Max heard the sounds of weapons being drawn and snapped up his pistol to his next target.  
“Wait everybody don't shoot, stand down, it’s over” yelled out Sheppard.  
The officers hesitated for a second, but then lowered their weapons and Max and the others lowered theirs. It was over and Beth rushed over to him and flung herself into him. Max wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into him.  
“You ok?” he asked her  
“I am now” she whispered.  
She then hugged Maggie and Max saw tears of happiness in both sisters eyes. Rick uncuffed the remaining two officers and let them go.  
“If anybody would like to come with us, they are more than welcome” he said.  
Nobody moved and Beth looked up at Max.  
“We can’t trust any of them” she said.  
Max nodded and threw a look at the others. They understood the message, it was time to leave.  
“Let’s get out of here” said Max.  
Max made sure none of the officers were following them and entered the stairwell with Beth and the others. Beth held his hand tightly as they walked down the stairs and Max wasn’t going to let go of her until they were good and safe.  
“How did you find me?” she asked.  
“I’ll tell you everything I promise” Max said to her.  
Beth nodded, understanding it wasn’t the time. They reached the car park and they all got back into the waiting Bushmaster. Max was about to climb in as well, but Rick stopped him, giving Max a penitent look.  
“Look Max, you were right, it did work out, I’m sorry” he said.  
“Its ok Rick, don’t worry about it” said Max.  
Rick nodded and then stopped Max again as he made for the driver's seat.  
“I’ll drive you need to be with Beth” said Rick.  
Max nodded his thanks and took the empty seat next to Beth. Rick started up the Bushmaster and then they were on their way out of the city. Beth slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. The smile on her face was so bright and happy despite what had happened to her and Max smiled happily back at her. The trade had almost been a disaster, but Beth was safe and alive and back in his arms, the group had been reunited, the world seemed brighter now and Max couldn’t have been more happier.


	7. Chapter 7

Beth almost didn’t believe it when Max’s voice had come through Dawn’s radio, fully believing she would be spending the rest of her days trapped at Grady. But it had been Max, he had found her and wanted to negotiate a trade for her life.  
Dawn had been livid, but she couldn’t lose four of her officers and had no choice but to agree to the terms. Beth had nervously waited for Max to arrive and when she stepped out into the hallway, she was even more surprised to see Maggie was with him. Beth’s heart had hammered in her chest when she made her way over to Max and it had almost stopped when Dawn had demanded Noah. Then Max had shot Dawn dead and Beth and Noah were free to go…  
Beth beamed up at Max and slipped her hand into his as they began to drive away from Grady. Max looked tired and his eyes had a haunted look, but he squeezed her hand tightly in return.  
“How did you find me?, how did you know I was in Atlanta?” Beth asked him.  
“Came across some of Dawn’s men this morning and forced your location out of one of them” said Max.  
Beth smiled happily at everyone, showing her deep thanks for coming to rescue her. She locked eyes with Maggie and tried her best not to cry with happiness. Maggie held out her hand and Beth took it. The two sisters didn’t say anything, the emotions too much to talk and just held each others hands for what felt like forever before letting go.  
“What happened at the hospital Beth?” Maggie then asked, her eyes flickering over Beth’s face.  
Maggie looked at her expectantly and Beth could see Max wanted to know as well so Beth began to talk. Max and Maggie’s faces darkened as she told them everything. Beth left out the part about Trevitt and Gorman though, not wanting them to know just yet.  
Max was quiet while Beth talked and when she finished, he brushed his fingers gently over her cuts and bruises. Beth winced and pulled her head away slightly in response.  
“Do they hurt?” he asked.  
“A little” she whispered admittedly.  
“And the arm?, Dawn do that as well?” Max the asked, lifting the cast.  
“No, I did that jumping out the window of the mortuary and it’s just my wrist, it’s only fractured” Beth assured.  
The anger in Max’s eye’s disappeared and was replaced with guilt. He averted his gaze and looked down at his hands.  
“I’m sorry Beth, I should have been quicker, I should..” he trailed off and Beth took his hand.  
“It's all ok now Max, you found me and you came for me, that’s all that matters” Beth said  
Max looked at her, she could still see guilt in his eyes, but it began to soften slightly.  
“You hungry?” Max then asked her.  
Beth didn’t want to be a bother, but she was starving, the only food she had eaten was the couple of candy bars the day before.  
“Yeah, starving” she replied.  
Max nodded and indicated for Glenn and Tyreese to get up and open up the storage container underneath their seats. They pulled out a large duffel bag and Max began pulling out cans and bottles of water from it. He selected two cans of mixed tropical fruit, opened them with a can opener and then handed a can of fruit and a bottle of water to Beth and Noah.  
Beth drank some water and began to eat the fruit straight from the can. The food was amazing and gulped it all down, fishing out the remaining fruit with her fingers  
“Still hungry?” Max asked her.  
“Yeah” she admitted.  
Max pulled out some power bars and handed them out. Beth ripped one of the bars open and began to munch it down. As she opened another, she looked out the window and saw the tall buildings of the city had gone and they were entering the suburbs.  
“So where are we going?, back to Terminus?” Beth asked.  
Beth guessed that’s where they must be heading, assuming Max, Daryl and Mika had continued on to Terminus after she was taken and met up with Maggie and the others. A hush fell over the vehicle though, smiles disappeared and all but Noah exchanged looks.  
“Terminus didn’t work out Beth” said Maggie softly.  
“Oh?” said Beth.  
No one elaborated and Beth could sense whatever had happened was painful. She was confused now though, how did the groups find each other?, was she with the only members of the group to survive?. These questions and more exploded through her head and Maggie seemed to pick up on her confusion, reaching out to grasp Beth’s hand.  
“I’ll tell you everything I promise” said Maggie.  
“So where are we going then” Beth then asked.  
“To meet up with the others” Maggie answered.  
“Oh, who?” Beth asked.  
“Michonne, Carol, Carl, Mika, Lizzie, Karen and Judith” Maggie replied and Beth’s face lit up  
“Judith made it?” she asked.  
“Yeah, she did” said Maggie.  
Beth’s grin widened to hear that Judith and the other girls were still alive and couldn’t wait to see them again.  
They continued driving into the countryside and Rick soon pulled the Bushmaster to a stop. Beth looked out one of the windows and saw a small wooden church. Everyone got out and Max held out his hand to Beth to help her down. Beth gave him a smile and took it, stepping down onto the dirt.  
The door to the church opened and the rest of the group came out in greeting. Mika and Lizzie rushed over to Beth to excitedly.  
“Easy girls, give her some space” said Carol as the girls crowded her.  
“Sorry Beth” said Mika bashfully.  
“No, its ok I’m really happy to see you too” said Beth and gave both of them a hug.  
Michonne, Karen and Carol each gave Beth a hug and then everyone began to walk inside. Max hung back, Beth gave him a look, but he told her head on inside and he would be right in.  
Beth entered the church and could see something happened inside, the pews were all smashed up and she could see several large blood stains on the floor and blood splatters on the walls. She also saw several people inside that she didn’t know and gave them all a cautious glance.  
Beth then saw Carl with Judith in his arms and smiled as he walked over to her.  
“Hi Beth” said Carl.  
“Hey Carl” said Beth back in greeting.  
Judith looked up and let out a happy gurgling sound.  
“Hey there cutie” said Beth and gave her a tickle which elicited a cute little giggle  
Beth felt a rush of emotion and tears of happiness began to well in her eyes again.  
“It’s good to see you Beth” said Carl.  
“Yeah, you too Carl” said Beth happily.  
The door to the church opened again and Max walked in carrying some bags. He tossed one of the bags down and walked to Beth, handing her the other. Beth recognised it as her go bag and took it from him.  
“Thought you might want to change out of those clothes” he said.  
Even though the clothes she was wearing were only a day old, they were blood stained and sweat soaked.  
“There somewhere I can change?” Beth asked, looking around.  
“Yes, you can use my office” said the priest, pointing to a door.  
Beth nodded and stepped into the small office. She placed her bag down on the couch and pulled a pair of jeans, a top and a some underwear.  
Beth stripped off her clothes and threw them into a pile. She pulled on her clean clothes and felt so much better wearing her own things again. She threw her dirty clothes into her bag and then caught a glimpse of herself in the small mirror on the wall. She didn’t have the same response as the day before when she saw how beaten her face was, only letting out a little sigh. Beth took a deep breath though, it didn’t matter, she was alive and her face would heal.  
She gave herself one last glance over and opened the office door, finding Max standing guard.  
“Better?” he asked.  
“Yeah” she replied.  
Two of the strangers, the tall redhead and the Latina woman about Maggie’s age, then walked over and Beth stepped closer to Max.  
“So this is the girl?’ asked the man gruffly, addressing Max.  
“Geeze Abe, could you be more of an ass, I apologise for him, hi, I’m Rosita” said the woman.  
“Beth” said Beth.  
“And this big ass is Abraham” said Rosita and the man chuckled.  
“Sorry, sometimes my mouth gets the better of me, luckily I have this little lady to keep me in line” said Abraham.  
He then held out his hand and Beth shook it.  
“Well, we just wanted to introduce ourselves, ” said Rosita.  
Rosita gave them a smile and she and Abraham, then left Max and Beth alone. Beth saw Maggie and Glenn sitting against one of the walls and she and Max joined them. Beth sat next to Maggie and she put her arm around Beth, pulling her into a hug.  
“So what happened to you after the prison” Beth asked, making conversation.  
Maggie smile faded, but she began to tell Beth everything, from escaping the prison with Sasha and Bob, finding the bus and the Terminus signs. Beth hadn’t forgotten about the notes from Maggie, it struck a nerve again, but Beth forced it down, it was a conversation for another time.  
Maggie went on to explain they had run into Abraham, Rosita and Eugene and the joined groups had saved Glenn and Tara, the other brunette woman before heading to Terminus. Maggie then stopped talking and she and Glenn exchanged looks  
“What happened?” Beth asked.  
“They were eating people Beth” said Glenn and Beth looked at them in shock.  
“What?” she whispered.  
“They overpowered us as soon as we arrived and locked us up with the full intention of eating us” said Maggie.  
“Oh my god” said Beth, shivering at the thought.  
Maggie then went onto explain they had escaped Terminus with the help of Tyreese and Carol, the reunited group had then come across Father Gabriel but had lost Bob when the Terminus people had tracked them down looking for revenge.  
Beth thought her nightmare at Grady had been bad, but the others had been through worse.  
“It's all ok now though, things are going to change for all of us Beth, Eugene over there has the cure to ending the walkers” said Glenn with a smile  
“He does?, seriously?” Beth asked, her eyes widened in surprise and looked at Eugene. Beth frowned slightly, he didn’t look like a scientist, but Beth didn’t know any to compare  
“Yeah, and we’re going to Washington to put the world right again” said Glenn.  
Beth shot a look at Max if he knew about this, but he just had a troubled expression on his face and Beth guessed he didn’t believe Eugene.  
“You don’t believe him Max?” asked Glenn, seeing Max’s face.  
“Look, I don’t know yet, I’m not saying he is but we should be cautious” replied Max.  
Beth didn’t know what to think, a cure sounded amazing, but Max wasn’t convinced and Beth could see doubt in Maggie’s eyes as well. Before Beth could question more, Rick came over and recruited Max and Glenn’s help in fortifying the church for the night. Beth stayed with Maggie and continued talking.  
“You still got your bracelet” said Maggie with a smile  
“Yeah, they took it from me at the hospital, but I got it back” said Beth.  
Beth considered telling Maggie about Gorman but she didn’t want to give Maggie any more reason to worry about her. She pushed the thought away and opened the go bag next to her, pulling out the polaroid of Maggie and their dad.  
“Oh” Maggie whispered as Beth handed it to her.  
“You should have it” said Beth.  
“I miss him already” said Maggie, looking over the picture.  
“Me too” said Beth.  
Beth and Maggie began to swap their favourite stories of their father. It was painful, but the two of them managed to talk without tearing up too much.  
It soon grew dark and Beth helped with preparing dinner. She, Maggie and Carol began to pull food out of several stacked containers and tried to decide on what to make with what they had.  
“Ok If only we had something to cook with” said Carol.  
“Hold on I got something” said Max.  
Max indicated to Beth to follow and she walked outside with him. Beth stepped out cautiously, but then saw the Bushmaster and the small church bus were now parked in a V shape outside the door, forming a barrier against walkers.  
They walked over to the Bushmaster and Max opened up the back door. They stepped inside and Max began to open up the storage cupboards under the seats.  
“What are we looking for?” Beth asked him.  
Max didn’t answer and pulled a large plastic container. He gave Beth a smile and she guessed they had got what they had come for. She made to leave the vehicle, but Max grabbed her hand. He pulled her into his lap as he fell back into one of the seats. They looked at each other, not speaking and then it was like a dam had burst as they began to kiss passionately.  
Beth gripped his shirt in his hand and let out a soft moan. They broke apart and grinned at each other.  
“That was nice” she whispered.  
“Yeah, it was” said Max in agreement.  
Beth smiled happily and began kissing him again before reluctantly pushing away. She wanted nothing more than tear each others clothes off, but they had come out to the Bushmaster for a reason.  
“We should probably go back in” said Beth.  
“Yeah, probably should” said making no effort to move and Beth giggled.  
The sound filled the vehicle and Max smiled at her.  
“God, I missed your laugh, ” he said and Beth just blushed.  
“Come on mister, before they come looking for us” said Beth.  
“Yes mam” said Max with a grin.  
Max picked up the container and they walked back inside. Everyone looked at them as they entered and Beth saw Maggie give her a teasing smile.  
“You guys get lost?” Maggie asked.  
Beth blushed and everyone laughed. Max just grinned and placed the container from the Bushmaster on the floor. He opened it and began pulling an assortment of cooking utensils from it. He also pulled out a small camping stove and a small gas cylinder from the bag.  
“There we are ladies” said Max after he had set the stove up.  
“Our hero” said Carol with a grin.  
Beth, Maggie and Karen then began to make dinner, deciding on a simple minestrone soup. Beth placed one of the larger of Max’s pots on the small stove and they began to mix the packets of soup and water in it.  
Daryl then came over, inspecting the cooking and Beth gave him a little smile.  
“Hey Daryl” she said warmly.  
“Hey” he said in return.  
He gave her a quick nod and began to walk away, but Beth stopped him.  
“Wait Daryl, um how was Max after I was taken?” Beth quietly.  
Daryl just shrugged and Beth’s face fell. Daryl’s features softened and he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.  
“He never gave up looking for you” he said.  
Beth looked over to where Max, who talking with Tyreese and smiled.  
“But was he ok though?” Beth then asked.  
“He didn’t sleep much” Daryl offered.  
Daryl walked off to talk to Carol and Beth was now a little concerned about Max. She looked over at him again and Max saw her looking, giving her a grin. Beth smiled lovingly back at him and went back to the soup.  
It was soon bubbling nicely and ready to be served up. Max came to the rescue again and produced a stack of plastic bowls and cutlery and they began dishing up the soup with some crackers.  
The whole group was hungry and everyone accepted their bowls gratefully. Beth and Max took their bowls and sat down together. Beth noticed Noah sitting by himself and waved him over. He smiled and joined them.  
“Hey mate” said Max as Noah sat down.  
“Hey guys” said Noah.  
“How you doing?” Beth asked, realising she hasn’t talked to him since that morning.  
“Yeah, ok I guess, still hasn’t sunk in that I’m free of Grady” he replied.  
“You’re with us now Noah” said Beth.  
“That’s right mate, one of us” said Max and Beth beamed at him.  
The group soon polished off the soup and the bowls and spoons were collected up. Abraham, then stood up and cleared his throat.  
“Abraham not another speech” said Rosita with a sigh.  
“Just a quick one, now know I said this last night, but our little group had grown and I just want to reaffirm our mission and that mission is putting the world back together, we are going head to DC and Eugene is going to put things right” said Abraham.  
Everyone cheered and Beth couldn’t help joining in. She looked up at Max, who had been very quiet.  
“So are we going to Washington?” she whispered.  
Max didn’t answer for a moment, glanced at Eugene and then back to her.  
“Yeah, we’ll tag along” he said.  
That was good enough for Beth and she smiled happily at him. The group then turned in for the night and Beth and Max set themselves up a makeshift bed on the floor next to Maggie and Glenn.  
“Comfy?” Max asked.  
The wooden floor wasn’t exactly soft but Beth didn’t care, she was the most relaxed she had been since the before the fall of the prison and she nodded happily.  
“Yeah, real comfy” she assured.  
Max grinned and Beth tucked herself into him. She let out a contented sigh, closed her eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep.  
When she woke, Beth was slightly confused where she was but then grinned as she felt Max’s arm still wrapped around her. She rolled over, causing Max to wake.  
“Morning” she whispered, giving him a smile.  
“Morning, sleep ok?” he whispered back  
“Yeah, really good actually” she replied.  
It was the truth, she was refreshed and it was probably the best sleep she had since before the prison fell. Beth then looked around and saw most of the group was still asleep.  
“Come on” whispered Max.  
They got up and tiptoed their way to the church door, not wanting to wake anyone else. They stepped out into the fresh morning air and saw Eugene standing by the Bushmaster’s open gas tank cap, about to pour something in.  
“What the fuck are you doing?” Max asked.  
Eugene jumped, dropping the bottle he was holding. Max bolted over and grabbed Eugene, slamming him up against the Bushmaster.  
“I asked you what the fuck you were doing” Max asked loudly and Eugene let out a cry of pain.  
Beth picked up the large bottle and saw it was bleach. As she looked at in confusion, Abraham, Rick and Rosita suddenly burst out of the church and rushed over.  
“Get your hands off him” yelled Abraham.  
Abe grabbed Max pulling off away from Eugene. Abraham swung a punch at Max but he swiftly blocked it and struck Abraham in the chest, sending the man sprawling to the ground. Rosita drew her pistol and Beth yelled out for them to stop.  
“Stop, everyone stop, we caught Eugene about to pour this into the fuel tank” yelled Beth, holding up the bleach.  
By now most of the group was outside now, alerted by what was going on. Abe picked himself and he and Max glared at each other as Rick and Tyreese stood between them.  
“Max?” asked Rick.  
“Yeah, he was trying to pour that shit into the fuel tank” said Max.  
Abraham snatched the bottle from Beth’s hand and examined it. His eyes then flicked to the open gas tank and then the puddle of bleach on the ground under it.  
“Eugene is this true?” asked Rosita.  
Eugene didn’t respond and was shaking, his eyes wide with fear.  
“Eugene?” Rosita asked.  
Eugene backed away and then Abraham grabbed him.  
“Answer the question” he growled.  
“I'm not a scientist” Eugene yelled suddenly.  
There was silence as everyone looked at him in shock.  
“I'm not a scientist, I lied, I don't know how to stop it, I'm not a scientist” Eugene blabbered out.  
“You are a scientist, I've seen the things that you can do” said Rosita in confusion.  
“I just know things” said Eugene  
“You just know things?” asked Glenn.  
“I know I'm smarter than most people, I know I'm a very good liar and I know I needed to get to DC” said Eugene in response.  
“Why?” asked Max.  
“Because I do believe that locale holds the strongest possibility for survival, and I wanted to survive,  
if I could cheat some people into taking me there, well, I just reasoned that I'd be doin' them a solid, too, considering the perilous state of the city of Houston and the state of everything” said Eugene.  
“People died trying to get you here” said Rosita angrily.  
Eugene sunk his head, there was a moment of stillness and then Abraham leaped at him. The two men fell heavily to the ground and Abraham began to punch Eugene ruthlessly. Rick and Glenn quickly pried Abe off the now unconscious Eugene.  
Abraham pushed Rick and Glenn away and then just slumped to his knees, staring at nothing blankly.  
The rest of the group just looked at each other and nobody said anything other. Beth didn’t know what to think and looked at Max to guess what he thought.  
“Let’s get him inside, ” said Carol, breaking the silence.  
It was like a spell had broken and everyone began moving at once. Eugene was carried inside by Rick and Tyreese with Rosita cradling his head. Glenn tried to persuade Abraham to come inside as well, but the man just shoved Glenn away roughly.  
“Just leave him Glenn” said Max.  
Glenn nodded and left Abraham where he was, kneeling and staring at nothing. Beth looked at Max with concern and they walked back into the church. Rick, Carol, Glenn and Michonne were talking loudly while Maggie, Rosita and Karen were tending to Eugene. Max walked over Rick and the others while Beth joined Noah, who was standing with Mika and Lizzie  
“You ok girls?” she asked them and they nodded.  
“What are we going to do now Beth?” Mika asked.  
It was like a dark cloud had descended on the group, there was now a whole lot of uncertainty and now nobody knew what was going to happen next. Beth saw Tyreese and Sasha talking together and Daryl sitting by himself. Beth then turned to Noah, it was something she had thought of last night.  
“Noah do you think your community is still there?” she asked quickly.  
Noah seemed confused for a moment and then understood what she was getting at  
“Oh, I have no idea Beth, it’s been more year since I was there” he said.  
Beth wasn’t deterred and grabbed his hand, pulling him over to Max and the others.  
“Rick, we can’t stay here, ” said Michonne.  
“What do you suggest then?” asked Rick in frustration.  
“Noah has a community” said Beth, speaking up and they all looked at her.  
“Yeah?” said Max and Beth nodded.  
“It’s up in Virginia, in Richmond, tell them Noah” said Beth.  
“I lived there before everything, it’s a gated community, it has walls and a big gate” he said.  
“Do you think it’s still there Noah?” Michonne asked.  
“I haven’t been back in a year, I couldn’t know for sure” he replied honestly.  
“We should think about finding out” said Beth.  
“I don’t know Beth, it’s a decent trip” said Rick.  
Beth felt like Rick was dismissing her, like her idea wasn’t valid enough and she scowled.  
“We were going to Washington anyway” Beth snapped.  
“Beth..” said Rick curtly.  
“Nah, she’s right Rick, you were all ready to march off to Washington without a second thought, how is this any different?” Max asked.  
Rick didn’t respond, but his jaw clenched and his eyes flashed with anger.  
“We need to go somewhere Rick” said Michonne.  
“We don’t know if his community is still there” said Rick angrily.  
“Well, it’s far more plausible than some fucking story about a cure that will save the world told by some crazy arsehole who you’ve only known for a couple of days” snapped Max.  
A silence filled the room as Max’s words sunk in, no one spoke up to dispute them and Beth could see by the expressions on their faces they were agreeing with them.  
“Rick the girls need somewhere safe to live, so does Carl so does Judith, so how bout we go see if Noah’s people are still there and if they’re not, then we’ll just be in the same position as we are now” said Michonne calmly.  
“Ok we all have a decision to make about what to do next, Noah has a community up north in Virginia, it might still be there, it might but we won’t know if we don’t find out” said Max, addressing everyone in the church.  
Beth looked around the room and she could see nobody was willing to make a decision. Max made a frustrated sound and walked from the church. Beth quickly followed him, grabbing his hand.  
“Max wait up” she said.  
He stopped and gave her a pained look.  
“Sorry” he said quietly.  
“Max, I don’t care what happens next or where we go as long as it's with you, that’s all that matters to me” she said  
She looked up at him lovingly and saw the anger in his eyes soften. He then reached out and gently cupped her face  
“That’s all I want too” he said.  
They both smiled at each other and then looked over at Abraham, who hadn’t moved.  
“You think he’s ok?” Beth asked.  
“No idea, but I know a broken man when I see one, he had a mission, something to keep him going and Eugene lied to him, took that mission away from him, that can shatter a man” said Max.  
“And what’s your mission?” Beth asked him, now intrigued  
“I think you already know the answer to that, Beth” Max replied.  
Beth blushed, knowing she was his mission. She wondered if Max might have become broken like Abraham if Max hadn’t found her, but didn’t want to picture the image.  
“Should we get him some water or something?” she then asked.  
“He’ll be fine for the moment” Max assured.  
Beth nodded and then turned as the door to the church opened and Maggie and Glenn walked out.  
“Hey” said Beth to them.  
“You going to take Beth to Virginia?” said Maggie  
Max raised his eyebrow and then exchanged looks with both Beth and Maggie.  
“That hasn’t been discussed yet” said Max.  
“Look the group hasn’t decided anything yet, but we’re coming with you if you decide to go” said Maggie.  
Max just nodded, but Beth smiled happily  
“But others will agree to go before it comes to that though” said Glenn, confidently.  
Beth was filled with hopefulness now and they walked back into the church. Rick then called for a vote and the group came to a unanimous vote to head to Virginia, with Rosita voting for Abraham and Eugene.  
Beth smiled happily, Eugene’s deception may have shattered some confidence, but the group had a plan and destination again. Beth didn’t really care where they went, knowing where ever they ended up she would be with her family and the man she loved most in the world and nothing was going to take that away from her again.


	8. Chapter 8

Max wasn’t surprised by Eugene’s deception like the rest of the group, he hadn’t been suckered in as easily. Max couldn’t blame the others for believing the lie, it did sound so perfect and even he did want the world back to normal and not have to worry about the undead any more.  
But now the deceit had been revealed, devastating the group and leaving them without a plan or purpose. Max wasn’t bothered by this, he had Beth back and they were all still breathing, which was all Max cared about.  
Another opportunity quickly presented itself though, Noah had a community. The group was very hesitant to commit at first but then everyone agreed it was the best course of action. The group decided to wait another day, though as Eugene was couldn’t be moved just yet. Max was fine with this, he had some things to take care of anyway.  
While the group went about their own business, Max and Beth walked from the church and saw Glenn, Rosita and Maggie trying their best to get Abraham in out of the sun. The man wasn’t having any of it though and refused to move.  
“Please Abraham, you need to come inside” pleaded Rosita.  
“You might be able to help Max” Beth suggested.  
Max wasn’t sure what he could do, but nodded and walked over.  
“Come on mate, you can’t stay out here all day” said Max  
Abraham ignored him and just continued muttering and staring blankly. Max just shrugged and was about to give up, but the others urged him on so he took a different approach.  
“Look, you got lied to, shit happens, now grow a pair and get the fuck up” said Max firmly.  
Abraham blinked and his eyes focused on Max, who readied to knock Abraham back to the ground if he tried anything. Abraham didn’t move though, and a pained look appeared on his face.  
“He alive?” Abraham, then asked quietly.  
“Yeah mate, you knocked the shit out of him, but yeah, he’s still breathing” replied Max and Abraham nodded.  
Max thought that was it, but Abraham got to his feet and let Rosita lead him inside. Rosita looked back over her shoulder at Max and mouthed a thank you to Max.  
Beth then walked over to the discarded bottle of bleach and picked it up off the ground, giving Max an inquisitive look.  
“Max, what would it have done to the Bushmaster?” she asked.  
Maggie and Glenn looked intrigued as well, most likely wanting to know as well.  
“The engine would have died and then we would have had to flush out the entire tank, wasting all the fuel” Max replied.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, it would have been a fucking nightmare” said Max.  
“They teach you that in the army Max?” asked Glenn.  
“Nah, Mythbusters actually” Max replied and Maggie, Glenn and Beth looked at him in surprise.  
“What? really?” asked Glenn.  
“Yeah, really, watched it all the time” said Max with a grin.  
Maggie and Glenn laughed, but Beth just smiled at him. Maggie and Glen then walked back inside, leaving Beth and Max alone.  
“So what do we need to do?” Beth then asked.  
“Huh?” Max asked in reply.  
“You got that business look on your face, so I was just wondering what we needed to do” she replied.  
“I have a business look?” Max asked.  
“Yeah, you get this cute serious look when you have a job to do” she explained.  
“Oh really?” he asked.  
She giggled, nodded and Max laughed as well.  
“Well, you’re pretty cute yourself” he said and Beth’s smile disappeared.  
“Max I look horrible” she said quietly.  
She averted her eyes and Max saw her brush her hand over one of her cuts. Another spike of anger rose in him again, wishing Beth had never had to suffer what she had been through. He couldn’t let his anger consume though, it would only make things worse and Beth didn’t deserve that. Max stepped into her and lifted her chin, giving her a loving look.  
“You’re still beautiful Beth, don’t you ever think otherwise” he said.  
“Yeah?” she whispered, uncertainty deep in her voice.  
“Yes Beth, you’ll always be beautiful to me and no tiny cuts are going to change that” he assured her.  
Beth just stared at him, then a bright smile spread back across her face and Max knew he had convinced her.  
“Ok, how bout we see about some tasks?” he asked, changing the subject  
Beth nodded happily and they walked over to the Bushmaster. Max needed to check the water tank and had planned to fill it before the left for DC. He opened a panel, revealing the fill point of the vehicle’s water tank. Max tapped the volume gauge and it showed the tank just below half full.  
“How much is left?” Beth asked him.  
“Enough but we should really think about finding more” he replied  
“How much can the tank take?” Beth asked.  
“Bout two hundred and seventy litres” Max answered.  
Beth stared blankly at him and Max laughed.  
“That’s about seventy one gallons” he explained.  
“Oh ok” said Beth.  
“Yeah, you Americans and your crazy measurements” said Max teasingly.  
“Excuse me?” said Beth indignantly.  
“Your crazy measurements, never could get used to them, ounces, yards and don’t get me started on Fahrenheit” he said.  
Beth just stared at him and he laughed.  
“Ok mister so we use crazy measurements” she said defensively but then giggled.  
“Yeah, you kinda do” said Max, laughing again.  
“So we need more water?” asked Beth, moving the conversation back.  
“Yeah, let’s see if Gabriel knows where some is” Max suggested  
Beth nodded and they walked back into the church. Max noticed Gabriel talking with Michonne and Carol. Max and Beth walked over to them and Gabriel gave him a warm smile.  
“Something I can help with” he asked kindly.  
“Yeah mate, there a water source round here?” Max asked him.  
The man looked thoughtful for second and then nodded.  
“Yes, there is a creek not far from here” said Gabriel.  
He gave a a directions on finding the creek and Max thanked him.  
“It sometimes dries up in summers though” Gabriel warned.  
“We’ll check it out anyway” said Max and the man nodded.  
“Let’s go have a look” Max then said to Beth and she nodded.  
They headed back outside to grab some weapons from the Bushmaster. Max grabbed his rifle from the weapon rack, then handed Beth her UMP smg and a pistol in a holster. Beth took the guns, attached the holstered pistol to her belt and then slung the smg over her shoulder. Max also grabbed two combat knives, handing one to Beth.  
They stepped from the Bushmaster and saw Glenn, Maggie and Tara sitting on the church steps. They noticed Beth and Max all geared up and gave them a concerned look.  
“Where are you going?” asked Maggie.  
“Gonna check to see if the creek nearby has water” explained Max.  
“We’ll go with you” said Glenn.  
“Nah we got it, it’s not far” said Max.  
Glenn looked confused, but Maggie and Tara seemed to understand.  
“Just be careful” said Maggie, looking at Beth.  
“We won’t be long” Max assured.  
Max and Beth walked off and began following the directions Father Gabriel had given them. Beth smiled brightly at him as they walked and Max could tell she was happy to be alone with him.  
“All good?” he asked.  
“Yeah, real good” she said with a grin.  
They walked a little way down the road from the church and turned off into the woods where Gabriel said they should.  
They walked into the woods, making their way through the thick but easily navigable bushes. As Max was wondering how far the creek was, he heard a twig snap and snapped up his rifle at the sound. Beth stepped closer to him, drawing her pistol and two walkers appeared and stumbled towards them.  
There was only two of them and Max let his rifle slack on its strap, drawing his knife. He quickly took out the first one and then turned to take care of the second, only to see Beth rush up and stab her knife into it, dropping it to the ground.  
“Nicely done” he said, impressed.  
“Thanks” said Beth with pride.  
Max listened out for any more walkers or other dangers. He didn’t hear any but his ears did perk up at the sound of rushing water.  
“Hear that?”Max asked.  
Beth listened out and then smiled, she heard the sound as well  
“We’re close, this way” said Max.  
They continued on, following the sound as it got louder and they soon came across a little waterfall, cascading down some rocks into a small but deepish pool.  
“Oh, it’s beautiful” said Beth and Max agreed wholeheartedly.  
They made their way to the water’s edge and Beth crouched down to splash her face.  
“Good?” Max asked.  
“Yeah, really good” she replied with a grin.  
Max put his rifle down beside her and stuck his hand in the water. It was a perfect temperature and he smiled, an awesome idea forming in his head. Max began to take off his boots and Beth gave him a bewildered look.  
“What are you doing?” Beth asked.  
“Going for a swim ” he said with a grin as he started to undo his gun belt.  
“What?” Beth asked incredulously.  
“I’m going for a swim, it's like a million degrees today” Max replied, dropping his pistol and belt to the ground.  
Before Beth could respond, Max pulled off his pants and his shirt. He gave Beth grin, picked up his pistol, tucked into the back of his briefs and then dove into the pool. The water was cool and refreshing and Max swam for a few meters before surfacing. He found Beth waiting anxiously and he stood up, slicked back his hair and gave her a grin.  
“You coming in?” he asked.  
“I’m not wearing swimwear” Beth said.  
“So?, neither am I” said Max.  
Beth hesitated for a moment, looked around then began to take off her shoes. She stripped off her jeans and then her top. Beth stood for a moment in her underwear and Max gazed hungrily at her almost naked body. Beth caught him staring at her and became self conscious.  
“What?” she asked, worriedly.  
“Nothing, you look amazing” he assured and she blushed.  
Beth then stepped tentatively into the water, careful not to get her cast wet and began to make her way over to Max.  
As Max held his hand out to her, she slipped on the slippery rocks on the bottom of the pool. Beth let out a little squeal, but Max caught her before she plunged under.  
“Whoa, steady there” he said with a grin.  
Beth smiled her thanks and held onto him tightly as she steadied herself.  
“This is so nice” she said.  
Max didn’t know if Beth meant the water or being alone together, but decided she probably meant both. She smiled happily up at him and ran her hand over his chest.  
“You look so good with your shirt off” she said with a smile.  
“So do you” he said back.  
Beth’s jaw dropped and pushed him gently.  
“Max!” she exclaimed.  
“What?, you do” he said.  
Beth rolled her eyes, but she grinned and giggled. Max laughed as well and Beth continued to smile happily at him.  
“The water feels so good” she said, running her good hand through the water.  
“Yeah, pretty awesome huh ” said Max in agreement and Beth nodded.  
“Yeah, it is, so nice to cool off” she said happily.  
Max just grinned as a wicked thought sparked in his head and acted on it, splashing Beth with water.  
Beth squealed and looked at him with shock as water dripped down her face and chest. Max gave her a mischievous grin and Beth splashed him back.  
A small splashing war broke out until they called a truce. Beth was soaking wet now and Max couldn’t help notice her bra had become see through. Beth saw where he was looking and grinned teasingly at him.  
“Like something you see Max?” she asked teasingly.  
“Oh, you know I do” Max growled  
Beth giggled and splashed him again. Max grinned and another splash battle began.  
“Ok, stop I surrender” said Max, laughing.  
Max could have stayed there, in the water for the rest of the day, just being with Beth but they had a job to do.  
“Ok, I guess we better head back to the others” he said reluctantly.  
“Yeah, alright” said Beth, obviously not wanting to leave as well.  
They made their way to the water’s edge. Beth got out first and Max saw her panties, like her bra had also become see through. Max’s mouth went dry and couldn’t help but stare.  
Beth caught him staring and grinned.  
“Settle down mister” she said teasingly.  
“Yes mam”  
Beth didn’t want to put her wet clothes on over her wet underwear and after quickly looking around she quickly stripped off. Max froze as she stood naked and wanted her so badly. He wanted to take her then and there, to lay her down on the warm rocks and make love to her.  
“Hey you gonna stand there all day or you are going to hand me my clothes?” she asked.  
Max snapped from his trance and reluctantly passed her clothes to her. Max stripped off his briefs and quickly redressed as well.  
When they were ready to go, they began making their way back to the church and to the others.  
Maggie, Sasha and Glenn were standing outside in the church grounds and Maggie gave Max and Beth a relieved look.  
“There you are, we were about to come find you” said Maggie.  
“We’re ok” said Beth.  
Maggie reached out and touched Beth’s wet hair.  
“Did you go swimming?” she asked.  
Beth flashed a smile at Max and then nodded at Maggie.  
“So you found some water?” asked Sasha.  
“Yeah, plenty of water” said Max.  
The door to the church opened and Rick, Daryl and Carl walked out.  
“How did you go?” Rick asked Max.  
“Yeah, good, found some water, lots of it ” said Max.  
Rick nodded and some of the tension Max had noticed in the man disappeared.  
“We probably should get as much as possible” Rick suggested.  
Max agreed and a majority of the group volunteered to collect water. They gathered up every empty bottle and container they could find and headed back to the creek.  
“Oh its beautiful” said Maggie when they reached the waterfall.  
“That’s what I said” said Beth.  
The group took a moment and then began to fill up their bottles.  
“We should probably boil the water” suggested Carol.  
“Nah, not necessarily, the water tank in the Bushmaster has a heavy duty filtration system built in” said Max.  
With all the bottles and containers filled, the group started back to the church. Multiple trips were made until the Bushmaster’s water tank was completely filled. They now had more than enough water and it would last them for a while before they had to find more.  
Max sat down in the church to rest and Beth slumped down next to him.  
“Could do with another swim” she said.  
“Yeah could do” Max agreed with a grin and Beth giggled.  
“So what do we need to do now?” she asked.  
“How bout we just sit here for a bit” he suggested and Beth nodded happily  
The rest of the day went quicker than expected and soon it grew dark. Max hadn’t failed to notice the smiles Beth kept throwing him during the rest of the day and the lust that had been building up was almost at boiling point.  
Max was talking with Glenn and Tara, but wasn’t really listening, just watching Beth as she talked with Noah and Carl. She saw him looking and gave him yet another one of her brilliant smiles. Max couldn’t stand much longer and excused himself from his conversation and stepped over to Beth.  
“Sorry to interrupt but I need Beth’s help with something” he said  
“Oh?” Beth asked, unable to keep her teasing smile off her face.  
“Yeah, come on, ” he replied.  
Max took Beth’s hand, pulled her to her feet and quickly led her outside.  
“So what do you need help with Max?” she asked teasingly.  
Max didn’t respond and just pulled her into the Bushmaster, shutting the door behind them. He sat down on one of the seats and pulled her into his lap. Max pulled her lips to his and they began kissing passionately. Beth began rubbing herself against him and Max groaned as he began to harden.  
“I want you inside me Max” she moaned seductively in his ear.  
“Yes mam” he growled with a grin  
They quickly stripped off their clothes like horny teenagers and Max pulled Beth’s naked body back onto his lap. Beth lifted herself up, wrapped her hand around his now erect cock and lowered herself down onto it, both of them moaning in satisfaction as he filled her.  
“Oh Max” she uttered.  
“Oh fuck Beth” He moaned  
Beth began to side herself up down his cock and Max groaned as her dripping pussy gripped him.  
“Oh Max, oh, it feels so good” she moaned loudly  
Max reluctantly shushed her, not wanting to the entire group to hear them. Beth silenced her moans and continued to ride him. Max knew he wasn’t going to last long, the pent up pressure was too much. Beth breaths got more rapid and Max sensed she wasn’t going to last long either.  
“You close Beth?” he whispered.  
“Y-yes, so close” she moaned.  
As soon as she said that, she let out a deep moan, her body seized up and she collapsed against him.  
“Oh shit Beth, gotta get off” Max groaned.  
Beth pulled herself off him just in time and Max spilled onto his stomach. Beth slumped into the seat next to him. They both sat panting, catching their breaths and extremely satisfied.  
“Mm, I think we really need another swim now” she said with a grin.  
Max laughed and Beth giggled. They quickly cleaned themselves up, pulled their clothes back on and walked back inside. No one gave them a second glance as they walked in, not even noticing their absence which suited Max just fine.  
Beth gave him a blissful smile and they sat down with Maggie, Glenn and Tara. Maggie gave them a look but Beth and Max ignored her, continuing to grin at each other.  
Dinner was soon made and served up. No one talked much compared to the night before and when everything had been cleared away, everyone soon turned in for the night.  
Max took first watch and then settled in next to Beth when Michonne relieved him. Beth was already asleep, but made a small contented noise and pulled his arm tighter around her.  
Max woke early the next morning, refreshed and ready to go. He shook Beth gently and she woke, giving him a smile.  
Soon the entire group was awake and a quick breakfast was made. When everyone had eaten and the dishes cleaned and packed away, the group was ready to go. There was not much point sticking around any longer, they had a long trip ahead of them and they grabbed everything they needed and headed out to the vehicles.  
“The kids should ride with us” suggested Beth as the group gathered outside.  
“Yeah, good idea” said Max.  
The others agreed and the group split up, with the majority of the adults getting on the bus. When all the gear had been stored away and everyone strapped in, they set off.  
Max’s half of the group took the lead and soon they were powering down an empty road. He looked over at Beth, sitting in her rightful place at his side in the passenger seat and she smiled at him.  
Max then opened one of the compartments in the dash and pulled out the battered iPod from it.  
“Put some music on” he said.  
Beth seemed hesitant for a second, but then smiled and nodded happily, taking the music player from him. She then looked in the back, waving the iPod about.  
“I’m putting some music on guys, any requests?” she asked.  
No one had any so Beth chose, settling on the road trip playlist she had chosen on that fateful run that felt like a lifetime ago. Willie Nelson’s ‘On the road again’ began playing and it couldn’t have been a better choice.  
“Oh nice” said Max.  
Beth grinned and began singing along to the music. Max joined in, but only knew half the lyrics and couldn’t sing to save his life so he gave up quickly. Beth giggled at his effort and smiled brightly at him.  
“Why did you stop?, you were doing good” she asked and Max just laughed.  
The music continued to play as they drove and Max soon noticed a sign saying, ‘You are now leaving the state of Georgia’. Beth saw the sign as well and gave Max a smile.  
“First time visiting South Carolina” she said, matter of factly.  
“Yeah?” Max asked.  
“Yeah, I’ve only been out of Georgia a couple of times” she replied.  
Max vaguely remembered her saying she had barely left her home town and he was now intrigued where she had visited.  
“So where have you been?” he asked.  
“Well, I’ve been up to Nashville and when I was little the whole family went to Graceland in Memphis” she said.  
“Visited the king huh?” Max asked.  
“You like Elvis?” Beth asked, her eyes lighting up.  
“What’s not not like?” he asked and Beth grinned.  
They were maybe an hour or so into SC when they ran into problems. Max heard honking and looked in the side mirror to see smoke pouring from the bus’s engine as it came to a stop behind him.  
“What’s wrong?” Beth asked, worriedly.  
“Something's wrong with the bus” Max replied.  
Max stopped the Bushmaster and stepped out to investigate. The bus’s engine was in a bad way and wouldn't be able to take much more. Eugene managed to get it working again though, scoring back some points and they continued on.  
Max could sense they weren’t going to make it to Noah’s community before sunset, especially with bus in its condition. The bus continued to limp on but slowly and the group decided to find a place for the night before it broke down completely.  
Max soon spotted the roof of a large mansion sticking out of some trees and pointed it out to Beth.  
“How bout there, what do you think?” he said.  
“Could be good” she said in agreement.  
Max turned off the road and began following a gravel driveway, making sure the others were following. The driveway led to high brick wall and a large ornate cast iron gate, locked with a padlock and chain.  
Max stepped down from the Bushmaster and was quickly joined by Rick and Daryl.  
“You thinking of here?” Rick asked.  
“Yeah, got walls, better than just anywhere” said Max.  
They smashed the lock off, opened the gate and continued on down the driveway. The mansion, Max had seen then came into view.  
“Oh wow” said Beth.  
The house was certainly impressive, most likely turn of the century. It kind of reminded him of the mortuary, but this house was far more majestic, looking like it had been transported directly from the Victorian age.  
They pulled the vehicles to a stop in front of the house and everyone got out. Max walked up to the imposing front entrance and found the front door, like the front gate was locked tight.  
“Locked?” Beth asked.  
“Yeah” he replied.  
Max broke the door open and the group carefully stepped inside the large foyer, weapons at the ready.  
Carol, Karen and the children stayed outside and the rest of the group split up to investigate the house, looking for any dangers. Beth, Max, Maggie, Glenn and Noah walked into a large library filled with hundreds of leather bound books, several comfy looking couches and a soft carpeted floor. Max inspected one of the bookshelves, finding all the books were all classic turn of the century novels, which fit perfectly with the rest of the house.  
“That is one ugly cat” said Glenn as he picked up a large stuffed toy cat with a wide manic grin, sitting on one of the couches.  
“Yeah its kinda creepy” said Noah.  
“It’s the Cheshire cat” said Max, recognising it.  
“The what cat?” asked Glenn in confusion.  
They all looked at Max with perplexed looks and Max raised an eyebrow in response.  
“The Cheshire cat?, from Alice in Wonderland?” said Max.  
Maggie, Noah and Glenn continued to look confused, but a smile appeared on Beth’s face  
“Oh yeah, I see it now, it looks different from the movie though” she said.  
“That’s because it's from the book” said Max  
“Oh right”  
The house was soon thoroughly searched and no dangers were found lurking. The house had multiple rooms and bedrooms, but Rick strongly suggested they all sleep in the library for safety. Max didn’t think that was necessary, but Rick wasn’t going to be swayed.  
Max quickly snagged the largest couches for him and Beth as the rest of the group began claiming parts of the room.  
Carol and Karen found the house’s kitchen almost nicely stocked, and the large gas stove in working order. They and other members of the group began to make dinner and when it was done, everyone gathered in the dinning room.  
The room contained a large dinning table big enough to accompany everyone and they sat around it to eat. Conversation began flowing and everyone seemed to be in higher spirits compared to the night before.  
When dinner was finished off and the plates and everything cleared away, the group retired to the library. It was far too early to sleep and no one was too eager to turn in, so everyone just chatted quietly.  
Max and Beth snuggled together on the couch, Max had claimed, grateful there was more than enough room for both of them.  
“Comfy?” he asked Beth and she nodded happily.  
They both noticed Mika and Lizzie playing with the Cheshire cat and an intrigued look appeared on her face.  
“So when did you read Alice in Wonderland?” she asked.  
“Well, I haven’t really, my grandma read it to me when I was little” Max replied.  
“Oh, that’s so sweet” said Beth.  
“Yeah, she had a picture book edition and I remember the pictures vividly” said Max.  
“I’ve only seen the movie” said Beth.  
Max nodded and then got off the couch. He walked over to the shelves and ran his fingers over the book spines until found a copy of Alice in Wonderland. He returned to the couch and handed it to Beth.  
“Oh nice” said Beth  
Lizzie and Mika noticed Beth with the book and came over.  
“What are you going to read Beth?” Lizzie asked  
“Alice in Wonderland” Beth replied, showing them the cover.  
“Will you read it to us?” Mika asked, a hopeful look on her face.  
Beth seemed hesitant, put on the spot, but then nodded.  
“Ok, but only a couple of chapters” she said  
The girls nodded happily and Beth began to read out loud from the book. At first it was just the girls listening, but after the first chapter, Max noticed that the entire group was listening in as Beth read. Beth soon realised she was reading to the entire group and got embarrassed, putting the book down.  
“Keep reading Beth please” asked Mika.  
Carol seemed to understand and took the book from Beth and continued reading from where Beth left off.  
“You were doing good” Max whispered in Beth’s ear.  
“Yeah?” she whispered.  
“Yeah, you were really bringing the characters to life, especially Alice” he said.  
“Think I could play her on stage or a movie?” she asked.  
“You would be an awesome Alice” he said confidently.  
“Ok, so if I’m Alice, who would you be?” she whispered.  
“Oh the Mad Hatter hands down” he said and made a crazy face.  
Beth snorted with laughter, causing everyone to look at her and Beth blushed with embarrassment. They all went back to what they were doing and Carol continued reading.  
She stopped after another chapter and decided it was time for the girls to get some sleep. The girls protested, but Carol wasn’t going to budge. It was late anyway and then the group decided to turn in as well. Max wasn’t asked to take any watches and quickly fell asleep with Beth in his arms.  
Max awoke the next morning as the sun started streaming in through stained glass windows. Max looked down at the still sleeping form of Beth and moved a strand of hair out of her face. She jerked awake and looked up at him.  
“Shh just me” he whispered.  
The whole group was soon up and about and a breakfast was made. Rick came up to Max as he ate, obviously wanting to discuss the plan of the day.  
“I think only a few of us should go, the rest should stay here” Rick suggested.  
Max agreed and a small group, consisting of Max, Rick, Tyreese, Michonne, Glenn and of course Noah. Was chosen to go while the rest of the group would stay at the house. Max could tell Beth wasn’t happy at staying, but Max much preferred her being safe at the house with the others and she begrudging agreed.  
Max and his little team gathered by the Bushmaster when they were ready to go. Max made sure Beth and the others were properly armed and had plenty of ammo in case something happened.  
Beth still seemed concerned about Max leaving but she lifted herself up and kissed his cheek.  
“Please stay safe” she whispered.  
“You too, don’t worry we won’t be long” he assured her.  
Max, Tyreese, Rick, Glenn, Michonne and Noah climbed into the Bushmaster and set off. The trip to Noah’s community was quicker than expected and Rick suggested they stop close by and continue on foot.  
Max parked the Bushmaster off the road next to some crashed vehicles and they all got out.  
“This is good, through the trees it might just look like part of the wreck” said Rick and Max nodded.  
“It's this way” said Noah, pointing.  
They started walking through the woods and soon came across some wires strung between the trees, forming a barrier against walkers.  
“Your people do this?” Rick asked Noah.  
“Yeah must have” he answered.  
They climbed through the wires and found themselves back out onto a road, with a fenced community in front of them.  
Max could tell something was wrong instantly, seeing a smashed grandfather clock lying on the road and motioned to the others to stay alert.  
“They have spotters?, snipers?” asked Rick, looking around.  
“We built a perch on a truck, sometimes it's out front” replied Noah.  
“Not today” said Max.  
Something was very wrong, there was no sounds, nothing to indicate anyone was alive. They cautiously approached the main gate and Max peeked over. His stomach dropped as he saw the destruction on the other side, the place had been attacked.  
“Max what do you see?” asked Glenn.  
“The place is gone” he said heavily and dropped back to the ground.  
Noah face fell, he quickly climbed over the fence and Max and the others quickly joined him. Noah cried out as he saw the burnt out houses and dropped to his knees, sobbing. Max crouched next to him and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder to comfort him.  
“Sorry mate” he said.  
Noah just continued to cry softly and Max stood back up.  
“Ok, lets just see what we can use, then we should head back” Rick suggested.  
“Then what?” asked Michonne  
“We can make a quick sweep” suggested Glenn.  
“I'll stay with him” said Tyreese, talking about Noah.  
They began to search the houses, taking care of the several walkers that were stumbling. Max knew the place was a lost cause, there was too much damage done and it was too much trouble to even begin making it safe.  
“We can make this place work, build it back up it can be a home for all of us, a new start” said Michonne.  
“This place is surrounded by a forest, there's no sight lines, whoever or whatever would be on top of us without us even knowing it, that's probably what happened here” said Rick in response.  
“That's what happened to us” said Glenn.  
Max knew Rick was right, the place would be too hard to protect even if they built up the walls.  
“And whoever did this could be still out there” said Max.  
Michonne just sighed and began walking down the street. Max and the others followed her to a hole in one the of the walls, that had been most likely been smashed in by a heavy vehicle from the outside. Max frowned when he saw a number of severed legs littering the grass on the other side.  
“What the fuck” he muttered.  
“Washington, we should go to Washington” said Michonne suddenly and Max, Rick and Glenn looked at her.  
“Eugene lied about a cure, but he thought of Washington for a reason” she said.  
“But he was lying” said Glenn.  
“About the cure, but he did the math and realized that Washington was the place where there'd be a chance” said Michonne  
She looked at Max and he just shrugged.  
“I was in Washington during the outbreak and it was a shitstorm, barely made it out of there alive” he said.  
“What if there are people there now?, what if it's some place that we can be safe?” Michonne asked.  
It was possible, Max thought, it had been a nightmare escaping the city, but things could have changed for the better.  
“We're a hundred or so miles away, it's a possibility, It's a chance, instead of just being out here, instead of just making it, because right now, this is what making it looks like” she said, pointing to the destroyed buildings  
Michonne let her words sink in, Max wasn’t convinced just yet and he could tell Rick wasn’t either. As Michonne opened her mouth to plead her case more, they heard yelling and turned to see Noah running down the street.  
“Noah what is it?” asked Michonne.  
“We have to help Tyreese, he’s been bitten” he yelled.  
They quickly followed him back to a house, taking several walkers as they did and found Tyreese slumped against the wall, with a large chunk missing from his arm. Blood was pouring from the wound and he was moaning incoherently.  
“Fuck” said Max.  
“We gotta cut his arm off” yelled Rick.  
Max and Rick held him steady and Michonne quickly severed Tyreese's arm with her sword. Tyreese promptly passed out and Max and the others did what they could to bandage the wound.  
“We need to get him out here” said Max.  
Max and Rick pulled Tyreese to his feet and began to carry him from the house. They made it back to the front gate and found it swarming with walkers, banging against the metal and trying to get in.  
Max dropped Tyreese gently to the ground and helped Glenn break the chain holding the gate closed.  
The gate swung open and the walkers burst in. Max snapped up his rifle and began firing on them, cutting several down quickly. They swiftly took out the rest and picked Tyreese up again.  
They carried him through the woods and Max knew Tyreese wasn’t going to make it. The man had lost too much blood as was drifting in and out of consciousness.  
“Hold on Tyreese” pleaded Rick.  
They made it to the Bushmaster and the carefully loaded Tyreese's into the back. They all climbed in and Max fired up the engine. The Bushmaster shot forward, smashing into one of the vehicles in front of them. Walker torsos spilled out onto the ground, but Max didn’t have time to worry or care how or why they were there and took off.  
Noah stared blankly as they sped down the road and then gave Max a pained look.  
“Sorry” he said.  
“Wasn’t your fault mate, you had know idea that was going to happen” said Max.  
“You think he’s going to make it?” Noah asked, looking in the back.  
Max already knew Tyreese on the way out and sure enough, ten minutes down the road, Tyreese was gone.  
The drive back to the others was a sombre one and Max just wanted to get back to Beth. A heavy blow had just been dealt, the group had just lost yet another member of their family and also coupled with losing Noah’s community, Max wasn’t sure how the group would bounce back.  
They made it back to the mansion and Max saw Beth and the others come out of the house. Max stepped down from the Bushmaster, Beth rushed over to him and stopped when she saw his face.  
“What happened?” she asked.  
“Its bad Beth” he answered.  
The others looked to Max for answers, but Max avoided Sasha and Karen’s gazes.  
“Carol, get the kids inside now” Max said.  
Carol didn’t even question and ushered Mika, Lizzie and Carl back into the house.  
“Wait, where’s Tyreese?” Karen asked as she saw he was missing.  
Max didn’t want to stick around for what was about to come next and began to lead Beth back inside.  
“Max what happened?” Beth asked again.  
He was about to answer when they heard Sasha and Karen’s anguished cries from outside.  
“We lost Tyreese” said Max softly.  
“Oh no” Beth whispered.  
“And Noah’s place was gone” he then said.  
Max told her everything but left out Michonne’s idea to go to Washington and Beth listened intently, face filled with worry.  
“Is Noah alright?” she asked.  
“Not sure” Max.  
She went to find out and Max followed. Karen and Sasha were sobbing over Tyreese’s dead body and had to be dragged away so the others could deal with it.  
The group then had a small funeral for Tyreese, burying him in the garden. Karen and Sasha were still devastated and everyone tried their best to console them. Beth tried to comfort Noah as well, but Max could tell the kid was going to be in a bad way for a while.  
The day dragged on from there and when it was time to sleep, Max didn’t want to be trapped in a room with everyone else. He grabbed Beth’s hand and they walked upstairs to the bedrooms.  
Max opened the first bedroom door, revealing a large room with a four poster bed in the middle. Beth and Max were too exhausted and numb to appreciate the feeling of a real bed and just slumped on top of the covers.  
Beth fell asleep first clung to him tightly while Max stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling of the bed until he finally fell until a restless sleep filled with nightmares of an uncertain future..


	9. Chapter 9

Beth woke in a strange bed, looking up at another unfamiliar ceiling. She was confused at first, but relaxed as she remembered where she was. She rolled over on the bed and found Max was still asleep beside her. Beth smiled happily and just watched him, thankful to have the peaceful moment after what had happened. Beth was sad that the group had lost Tyreese and that Noah’s community was gone, but she was far more grateful Max, Maggie were still with her. Beth yawned, placed a hand on Max’s chest and his eyes snapped open.  
“Hey” Max said sleepily.  
“Hey” she said back.  
“You ok?” he asked.  
“Yeah, all good” she assured him.  
Max nodded and sat up in the bed. He then reached out to run his thumb gently over the cut on her cheek and smiled.  
“They’re healing well, we’ll be able to take these out soon, whoever stitched you up at that hospital did a good job” he said.  
“The only good thing he did” muttered Beth before she could stop herself.  
“What does that mean?” Max asked.  
Max gave her a concerned look and Beth knew she couldn’t put off what she had been trying to put behind her any longer.  
“Um, ok, I haven’t told you everything that happened at Grady” she said softly.  
Max just looked at her expectantly and Beth took a breath and began to talk. She told him how Dr Edwards had tricked her into killing Everett and how Gorman had attempted to rape her. Max’s eyes widened at this and his face darkened.  
“Nothing happened though Max, I stopped him before he could do anything” she said quickly.  
“Why didn’t you tell me about this Beth?” he asked angrily, his eyes blazing.  
The anger on his face and in his voice shocked her and she pulled away from him.  
“I didn’t want you to worry” she said.  
“Beth” he snapped.  
“I didn’t want you to know ok, I caused the death of two people Max” Beth said angrily.  
The words hung in the air and Beth turned away, trembling. The silence was deafening and Beth wished she hadn’t said anything at all. She then felt Max’s arms wrap around her and he pulled her into him. Beth was resistant to the hug at first, she was angry at Max and herself but then melted into it.  
“I’m sorry Beth” Max whispered.  
She turned to look at him, saw a deeply remorseful expression on his face and her anger at him faded.  
“It’s ok” she whispered.  
“No, it’s not, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that” he said softly.  
“I should have told you Max, I just didn’t want you to think differently of me” she said.  
“Beth, I’m going to love you know matter what” said Max.  
Beth stared into his eyes and then nodded.  
“I had to kill people too after you were taken” Max then said.  
This was news to Beth, Max hadn’t revealed much about what had happened between her kidnapping and her rescue. He went on to tell how he had chased after her through the night and had to kill a hostile group of men, before finding Terminus in flames and coming across two of Dawn’s officers. There was another silence, but not as tense, just the two of them contemplating what they had been forced to do. Beth broke the mood by slipping her hand into his and squeezing it gently.  
“So what do think is going to happen now, with the group?” Beth asked.  
“I really don’t know Beth” Max replied.  
Beth understood, two of their plans hadn’t worked out and with the another loss of one of their members, she didn’t expect Max to know what to do next.  
“Michonne thinks we should still go to Washington” he then said and Beth gave him a confused look  
“But Eugene lied about a cure” said Beth.  
“Yeah, but Michonne thinks there might be people there” Max explained.  
“Do you think there could be?” Beth asked.  
Max just shrugged and Beth nodded. Beth didn’t really like the idea of another trip. The drive to the mansion from Georgia had been long and even though it had been free of danger, it had been hot and  
tiresome. Beth thought staying at the mansion was a far better option and they could make it a home but the others probably wouldn’t agree.  
Beth and Max then got up and walked downstairs. They found the rest of the group still in the library and Beth could tell no one had a good sleep. The group all look tired a worn out, Karen still looked devastated and Sasha was even worse, huddling up against the wall, hugging her knees and just staring blankly.  
Maggie walked over to Beth and Max and Beth gave her a little smile. Maggie returned it, but it was a weak one and Beth wondered how her sister was holding up.  
“You sleep ok?” Beth asked her.  
Maggie just shrugged and Beth understood. She then looked back over at Sasha, who still hadn’t moved yet.  
“She going to be ok?” Beth quietly asked Maggie  
Maggie shook her head and gave Beth a sad look.  
“I don’t think she slept at all last night” said Maggie.  
“And what about Karen?” Beth asked.  
“She’ll be ok I think” said Maggie, but Beth knew she was only guessing.  
Beth and Maggie then offered to help Carol make some breakfast for the group. No one spoke as they ate and when everyone was done, Rick called a meeting.  
“We need to talk about what we are going to do next” he said, looking around the room.  
“I still think we should go to Washington, Rick” said Michonne, speaking up first.  
Everyone in the room looked at each other in confusion and Beth saw some of them glance at Eugene.  
“Why Washington?” asked Maggie.  
“There could be people there, a place to be safe” said Michonne.  
“You were in Washington Max, what do you think?” asked Maggie.  
Everyone looked at Max and Beth could tell he didn’t like being put on the spot.  
“Well, that was a long time ago, at the start of the outbreak, it was crazy as the city was being evacuated and I almost didn’t make it out” Max explained.  
“But things could have changed by now” said Michonne.  
“Yeah, sure, but a slim chance at best ” said Max.  
“Why don’t we just stay here?” suggested Carol and Beth nodded in support.  
“It’s safer if we stay on the move, we don’t have to go to Washington but it’s better if we don’t stay in one place for long” said Rick.  
Beth still thought staying at the house was a better idea, they had no idea what they might find on the road, but the rest of the group seemed to agree with Rick and It was quickly decided that they would move on and head towards Washington.  
With a plan decided on, the group then split up to begin preparing for the trip. Beth helped with gathering up all the food and supplies in the house. Beth, Carl and Noah started in the kitchen, placing pretty much everything into boxes and bags.  
Beth was still concerned about Noah and gave him a warm smile as they moved about the large kitchen.  
“How are you holding up?” she asked.  
“I’m ok” he said  
Beth could tell Noah was still hurting, but she didn’t want to push him, hoping he would bounce back in his own time.  
When they had grabbed everything from the kitchen, they carried it all out to the vehicles. Beth saw Max, Abraham, Daryl, Rick and Eugene standing around the open hood of the bus. They all had troubled looks and Beth wondered what was wrong.  
She placed the bag she was carrying down in the back of the Bushmaster and walked over to the men. Rick, Daryl and Abraham barely acknowledged her, but Max flashed her a grin and Eugene gave her an interested look. Beth was little weirded out by the look, but turned her attention to Max.  
“Everything ok?” she asked him.  
“Well the bus is pretty much fucked and it’s out of fuel” said Max.  
“Oh” said Beth.  
“Yeah, and Bushmaster is getting really low on fuel as well” he then said.  
“Enough to make it?” Beth asked and Max shook his head.  
“No, the trip here pretty much exhausted the tank, especially sharing the fuel with the bus” he replied.  
“So we’re going need to find more fuel” said Rick.  
“Saw a town not far from here” said Daryl.  
“Ok, so we’ll go check that” said Rick.  
A small group was selected to go on the run and Max was one of the ones to go. Beth wasn’t going to be left out, wanting to go with him this time.  
“I’m coming with you” she said to Max.  
She expected Max to protest and say no, but he just nodded.  
“Sure, go get your gear” he said.  
Beth nodded and quickly grabbed her weapons. She returned to Max, finding the others already waiting. Rick frowned as she walked up, obviously not liking her coming along.  
“Ready to go?” Max asked.  
“Yeah” said Beth in reply.  
“You going to be ok with that cast?” Rick asked.  
“She’ll be fine” said Max and Beth smiled at him.  
Beth, Max and the run group then headed off, deciding to walk as not to waste any more precious fuel. Beth was a little hesitant about not having the safety of the Bushmaster, but she was committed to her decision and began walking alongside Max.  
As they walked down the gravel driveway, Beth saw a small patch of purple wild flowers growing on the side and she stopped to admire them. Max paused in the road as well while the others continued on and she gave him a smile.  
“They’re gorgeous, don’t you think?” she said.  
“Yeah, they are” he said in agreement.  
Beth loved that there was still beauty in the world dispite the world being filled with death and Beth couldn’t help but be filled with hope.  
Max then crouched down and picked one of the flowers. He stood up and Beth thought he was going to hand her the flower, but he reached out and carefully tucked the flower into one of her ears.  
“Perfect” he said, stepping back.  
“Yeah?” she asked.  
“Very pretty” he assured.  
Beth blushed and gave Max a bright smile. The others had noticed Max and Beth had stopped and were now standing in the driveway, looking back. Max and Beth caught up to them and Rosita and Tara both gave Beth a smile and she smiled back at them.  
The others didn’t seem to care or notice, but Rick however, seemed to disapprove and flashed both Beth and Max a look. Beth couldn’t understand what Rick’s problem was and just ignored him, not going to let him bring her down. Max ignored him as well and they all continued on walking, coming to the main road.  
They walked along the road, soon reaching the town Daryl had seen and they cautiously walked into the outskirts. The town wasn’t very big and they saw only a few walkers stumbling about as they came to the small main street.  
The saw a small gas station, but it was bone dry and moved on. Every store in the town had also been looted long ago and nothing remained.  
Beth began to lose heart that would find anything at all but then they saw a car dealership. A small fleet of vehicles were sitting in the yard and the group cut through the fence to check them out. While the others inspected the cars, Beth and Max went to see what they could find in the business’s office building.  
They saw some roller shutters with a sign saying auto service above them and Max smashed off the padlock on one of the roller shutters, pulled it open.  
Beth was instantly reminded of the mechanic’s garage from the first time she had met Max and couldn’t help smiling at the memory.  
“What are you smiling at?” Max asked.  
“Just remembering the first time we met” she said.  
Max just grinned and they began to search the garage. A couple of large drums were sitting against the wall and Beth’s heart leaped as she read the label on the sides.  
“Max, look” she said.  
Max came over and gave Beth an impressed look.  
“Not bad miss Greene, not bad at all” he said.  
Max inspected the fuel drums and found all three completely full.  
“Will it be enough?” Beth asked.  
“It’s definitely a start” Max replied.  
Beth and Max returned to the others, telling them about the fuel. Rick and the others had managed to find several of the vehicles still working. Of the working vehicles, they chose a large pickup truck, a multi seater SUV and Daryl had found himself a bike. They then loaded the drums of fuel in the back of the pickup and headed back to the mansion.  
They reached the house in no time and the others were happy to see them return safely and had found fuel and working vehicles.  
Beth and Max then grabbed something to eat and relaxed together in the library.  
“You could do with a haircut soon” she said teasingly, combing her hand through his thick hair.  
It wasn’t as long as Daryl’s but it was getting there.  
“Yeah?, think it’s getting a little too long?” he asked and Beth grinned.  
“A little and you could do with a shave too” she said, running her hand over his thick stubble.  
“Oh really?, not digging the rugged look?” he asked.  
Beth made a face and shook her head. Max gave her a mock look of hurt and she giggled.  
“Well then miss Greene, the first barber shop we see, I’ll get the full works” he said.  
“Sounds good” she said and giggled again  
They spent the rest of the day together until it was time for dinner. The group ate and then Rick suggested everyone get some sleep.  
Once again, he insisted they all sleep in the library again, but others decided sleeping in a real bed was a far better choice and then everyone began to claim bedrooms for the night.  
Beth and Max walked up to the same bedroom they had used the night before and Beth lit the candles she had grabbed, filling the room with a soft glow.  
She felt Max wrap his arms around her and she let out a soft sigh as he pressed himself into her back. Beth turned in his embrace and smiled up at him.  
“So miss Greene, what are you and I going to do now?” he asked.  
Beth knew exactly what she wanted to do and giggled teasingly.  
“Wanna get naked?” she suggested and Max’s grin widened.  
Beth giggled again and took his hand, leading him to the bed. They both kicked off their shoes and leapt onto the bed. Max tore off his shirt and Beth ripped off hers. She reached round to unclasp her bra, but Max pushed her down into the bed.  
He began to kiss her and Beth kissed him hungrily back. He then moved from her lips to her neck and Beth let out a soft moan.  
“Oh, that feels so nice Max” she whispered.  
Max chuckled and began to kiss her breasts through her bra. Beth giggled with delight and then pushed him away, sat up and pulled off her bra. She dropped it to the bed and Max’s eyes lit up at the sight of her bare breasts.  
“So beautiful” he whispered and Beth blushed.  
Max then eased her back down and took one of her breasts into his mouth, running his tongue around her nipple. He switched to the other breast and trailed his hand down her body to unbutton her jeans. He then slipped his hand inside and Beth let out a moan.  
“Like that, don’t you?” he asked.  
Beth nodded and he began to rub her, sliding a finger inside her.  
“God you’re so wet Beth” he whispered.  
Beth could only nod in agreement and he grinned. He then pulled his hand out and Beth groaned in displeasure. Max laughed and then began to gently kiss down her body. He reached her navel and then stopped, grinning up at her.  
“Please don’t tease me Max” she pleaded.  
Max chuckled and tugged off her jeans, dropped them to the floor. Beth was only clad in her panties now and she saw Max grinning at the sight. She spread her thighs, Max lowered his head between them and began to kiss her through her panties. Beth let out a soft moan and gripped the sheets tightly in her hands.  
“Oh yes, so good” she whispered.  
Max hooked his fingers into her panties and slid them off as well, throwing them to the floor. He began to lap at her naked now pussy and Beth arched her back, gripping the sheets again. His tongue wormed its way inside her and Beth let out a gasp.  
His tongue working its magic on her pussy felt so good, and Beth was going to cum in no time. Max then slid a finger, then two inside her and Beth couldn’t take it any more.  
“Oh Max please I need more” she pleaded.  
“Yeah Beth?, what do you need?” he growled  
“I-I need to feel your cock inside me” she moaned.  
Max quickly relieved himself of his pants and underwear. His erect cock sprang free and Beth bit her lip gently in anticipation at the sight of it.  
“You want this inside you Beth?” he asked.  
“Yes Max, put it in me” she begged  
Max chuckled, positioned himself and rubbed the head of his cock at her entrance before easing into her. Beth let out an appreciative moan and they locked eyes as Max bottomed out  
“Oh Max I love you so much” she moaned.  
“I love you too Beth” Max whispered back  
He began to move in and out of her with strong but gentle thrusts and Beth bucked her hips to meet him  
“Oh yes Max, oh, oh yes, fuck me ” she moaned  
“Yeah? you gonna cum all over my cock Beth?” he asked  
“Yes Max, fuck my little pussy, please don’t stop” she pleaded.  
Max sped up his thrusts, going deeper and Beth had to clasp her hand over her mouth so her moans wouldn’t bring the whole group running to investigate.  
“Oh Max I’m going to cum, I’m so close” she whispered.  
Max didn’t let up and It didn’t take long at all for the pleasure to be too much. Her orgasm exploded through her and she grabbed a pillow to muffle her scream.  
Max continued to thrust as she rode out her orgasm and then he pulled from her. Beth instantly missed the feeling of him inside her and let out a displeased sound. She couldn’t be angry though, he had just given her a mind blowing orgasm and they couldn’t risk him finishing inside her.  
“Let me take care of that” she whispered.  
She took his cock into her mouth and began to suck him.  
“Oh shit Beth” Max groaned  
Beth just grinned and quickly finished him off. She let his wilting cock free, wiped her lips and gave Max a brilliant smile. Max grinned back and then pulled her into him.  
They lay tangled together, just enjoying the moment for what felt like ages before Beth fell into a deep satisfying sleep.  
Beth was woken by Max in the morning and smiled happily up at him.  
“Morning” she said.  
“Morning” he said back  
Beth yawned, stretched and gave Max another brilliant smile.  
“What?” he asked.  
“Nothing, just nice to wake up next you in a real bed” said Beth.  
“Yeah the bed’s pretty great, huh?” said Max  
Beth nodded and giggled. She wanted nothing better than to lay in the soft bed all day, but the group would be heading off soon, something Beth still wasn’t looking forward to.  
They reluctantly got up, got dressed and headed downstairs. Most of the group was already up and when everyone was awake, they all ate a quick breakfast.  
The group was soon set to go and they all gathered outside. They all began to split up between the vehicles and Mika and Lizzie came up to Beth and Max.  
“Can we ride with you again?” asked Mika.  
“Of course you can” said Beth.  
The girls smiled and climbed into the Bushmaster. The other vehicles were filled up, Beth settled into her seat next to Max and the group set off. Daryl took the lead on his bike, scouting ahead and the rest of the group followed.  
The mansion was soon left far behind them and the group was making good time as they powered down the empty roads. A few hours later, they came across a large truck stop and decided to check it out. Beth was grateful for the break, really wanting to stretch her legs. They pulled into the truck stop and everyone got out.  
“Ok everyone, stay sharp” said Rick.  
Beth almost rolled her eyes at the comment, like somehow they had all forgotten the world they were living in. Beth stayed with Karen, Carol, Eugene, Father Gabriel and the children as they sat in some shade and kept a careful watch out while the rest of the group investigated the truck stop and checked all the vehicles for more fuel. Beth noticed Karen was looking a little better, but wasn’t saying much and Beth gave her a warm smile. Karen returned it but was a weak one.  
“It’s so hot today” groaned Mika.  
Beth could only nod. It was scorching hot and felt like the heat was never going to break. She took a sip of water from her bottle and then noticed Eugene staring at her. He quickly looked away but he made her uncomfortable so she stood up to go find Max. Beth headed to the truck stop's main building and then heard a shout. She ran inside to see Sasha violently stabbing a walker over and over again. Max, Glenn and Tara were with her and Max was trying to pull Sasha off it.  
“For fuck's sake Sasha just stop, you got it, its fucking dead” yelled Max.  
Sasha ignored him, but Max managed to drag her off the walker and she glared angrily at him. Beth thought Sasha was going to attack Max but she just shrugged him off and walked away. Max saw Beth and gave her a pained look.  
“What happened?” she asked.  
“It was hiding in there, caught Sasha by surprise” said Max, pointing to an open storage closet.  
“You ok?” she asked and Max nodded.  
“Yeah, all good” he said  
The others nodded that they were ok and Beth looked around. The inside of the truck stop was a combination of a diner and a convenience/gift shop. All of the food and drinks had been stripped long ago and all that remained was the gaudy souvenirs sold to tourists.  
“Found you something” Max said.  
“Oh?” asked Beth  
Max nodded and pulled a small notebook from his thigh pocket.  
“I know you lost your other one, thought you might want to start again with this one” he said.  
Beth took the notebook from him and smiled happily at him. She tucked the notebook into her back pocket and then helped Max and the others gather up anything of use. They didn’t find much though, but Beth did grab some drawing paper and some boxes of pens and pencils for the kids, plus a little stuffed toy dog for Judith.  
The group was soon about ready to head off from the truck stop and Beth was ready to move on. As she was about to climb onto the Bushmaster, Beth saw Max look around with concern.  
“What is it?” she asked.  
“Not sure, got the strangest feeling we are being watched” he said.  
Despite the heat, a chill went down Beth’s spine and she looked around wildly. The last time Max had the same feeling, the Governor had attacked the prison.  
“What, where?” she asked.  
Max said it was just a feeling, but they all did a quick sweep of the area. They found nothing though, and Beth’s fears were eased. They returned to the vehicles and the group continued on, leaving the truck stop behind.  
Beth pulled the notebook from her pocket and grabbed one of the pens she had found. She began to write down everything that had happened over the last several days. Beth found it difficult to write about her father, but managed to do so without tearing up too much. After a while, she put the notebook down for a bit, planning to finish later. She looked around, to see where they were and noticed a very concerned look on Max’s face.  
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.  
“Looks like a storm ahead” he replied.  
Beth looked and saw the sky ahead of them was filled with dark storm clouds. She instantly thought back to the other storm, they had been caught in and grew worried. It looked bad and they were driving right into it. She knew they would be safe in the Bushmaster, but she was more worried about the others, especially Daryl on his bike.  
“Should we find shelter?” she asked.  
Max nodded, but all they could see was trees on both sides of the road. The storm was soon on them and Beth’s pulse raced as rain began pelting the roof. Strong winds begin buffeting them and Beth saw the trees on the side of the road swaying dangerously. Max suddenly jammed on the brakes and narrowly avoided hitting Daryl as he came flying back. Max opened his door and Beth heard Daryl yell something about a house up ahead.  
They began following him through the rain and then turned off the road onto a driveway. They reached the farmhouse Daryl had seen, only to find it had burnt down long ago and was now just a skeletal ruin. The barn next to the house however was still standing and Max pulled the Bushmaster to a skidding stop in the mud. Max jumped out and Beth did so as well, instantly soaked to the bone.  
She rushed over to Max, who was trying to open the barn door which was chained shut. Rick threw Max a crowbar and then the two of them broke the chain off. The heavy wooden doors were flung inwards, revealing a dark but dry interior.  
“Everyone inside” yelled Rick.  
The barn was empty of dangers and they grabbed whatever they needed from the vehicles before rushing inside.  
Everyone was shivering and they all looked around ominously as the wind howled, shaking the barn slightly. Beth saw an old fashion lantern hanging up on a post, pulled it down and Max helped her light it.  
“Cold?” he asked as she shivered.  
“Yeah” she admitted.  
Max nodded and looked around. He then pulled a small rusted metal drum that had been cut in half from a pile of junk in the corner. Max placed the drum down in the middle of the barn and then walked over to a stack of firewood. He picked up a small pile of kindling and brought it back to the drum  
“Need some help?” Beth asked.  
“Know how to make a fire?” he asked.  
Beth shook her head, she had seen Daryl and Rick make fires many times before but had never learned how to herself.  
“Bout time you you did, ” he said.  
Max began to instruct her how to make a perfect fire and Beth wasn’t the only one who wanted to learn, Noah, Mika, Lizzie and even Carl watched intently. While Max did this Rick grabbed the other half of the drum and began lighting another fire.  
Soon two small fires were burning and everyone took turns warming themselves up around them. When Beth was dry enough, she took a seat next to Max.  
“Better now?” he asked.  
She nodded, but slid closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her. The storm continued to rage outside the barn and only sought to deteriorate the group's mood. Beth tried to stay cheerful, but even she was having a hard time doing so.  
People were talking softly together and Beth decided to get some sleep. She lay her head against Max’s chest and surprisingly drifted off to sleep.  
She awoke some time later, finding Max asleep too now. The storm was still raging and she could see some people were still awake.  
Beth got up and walked over to the barn doors and peeked out the gap, wanting to see how bad it was outside. She gasped as she saw a large group of walkers outside, stumbling towards the barn.  
“There’s walkers outside!” she cried out in warning.  
Her outburst caught everyone’s attention and they all woke up.  
“Where?” Rick asked, jumping up.  
Before she could answer, the walkers outside had reached the doors and began pushing on them. Everyone quickly jumped up and braced themselves against the doors. Even over the wind they could hear the snarls of the walkers and they wanted in.  
“The door isn’t going to hold, there’s too many of them” yelled Glenn.  
Everyone was struggling to hold the door closed, slipping on the muddy floor. It was hopeless, the walkers were going to make it inside sooner or later.  
“We gotta get to one of the vehicles, block off the door” yelled Max.  
He then jumped away from the door and leapt up the ladder to the upper level. Without thinking, Beth quickly followed him as Maggie yelled for her to come back.  
Max opened one of the windows and they were both immediately assaulted by wind and rain. Max saw her and held up his hand.  
“I got this Beth” he yelled over the wind.  
“I’m coming with you” she shouted back.  
Under the window, parked against the barn was a large tractor and before Max could stop her, Beth dropped down onto its roof. Max joined her and then they dropped down to the ground, landing in the mud.  
“Come on” Max yelled, pulling her to her feet.  
They raced around the side of the barn and saw the herd of walkers pushing up against the barn door.  
Beth and Max ran to the Bushmaster as some of the walkers noticed them and Max ripped the back door open. They both jumped inside and Max slammed the door closed on the pursing walkers.  
There was a stillness inside the Bushmaster and the noise of the storm was muffled by the vehicles' thick armour. They couldn’t appreciate the calm though and Max jumped into the driver's seat. He fired up the engine, threw the vehicle in reverse and then drove headlong into the walkers, crushing them underneath. Max then put the Bushmaster up against the barn door, effectively blocking it off. Beth and Max were still surrounded by the remaining walkers, but none could get into the barn now.  
Max then got up and opened up the roof hatch. The roar of the storm returned and the rain began to pour in.  
“Let’s go” he said, holding out his hand to her.  
He boosted her up and she climbed through the hatch onto the roof. Beth almost slipped and fell off all most instantly, but Max caught her just in time. She stared down at the hungry, snarling walkers thankfully out of arms reach and clutched Max’s hand.  
The hayloft door above the barn door was suddenly flung open and Abraham and Glenn threw out their hands. They pulled Max and Beth inside, collapsing into the wooden floor and Abraham and Glenn slammed the hayloft door closed.  
“Damm you two are pretty crazy, pulling off a stunt like that” said Abraham, impressed.  
Beth beamed at the praise and looked at Max. She thought he might be angry at her for jumping out the window, putting herself in danger like that but he just nodded.  
“Nicely done” he said to her and Beth beamed.  
They all climbed down to the others and Maggie stomped over to Beth, her face enraged.  
“What were you thinking?, you could have been killed” Maggie yelled.  
“Maggie it’s ok, I’m ok” said Beth, quickly.  
“No, it’s not ok” said Maggie angrily.  
“Maggie relax, it’s all good now” said Max calmly.  
“I’m not going to relax, you shouldn’t have let her go out there” snapped Maggie.  
Maggie stared daggers at Max and stepped threatening closer to him. Max just looked coolly back and Glenn gently pulled Maggie back.  
“Maggie please calm down” he said softly.  
“No, I won’t he almost got Beth killed” said Maggie.  
“No Maggie, he didn’t” cried Beth.  
“Ok everyone just cool it” said Rick.  
Maggie continued to glare, but allowed Glenn to lead her away. Beth looked at Maggie as Glenn tried to calm her down before looking at Max. He didn’t look angry, but had an annoyed expression on his face. Beth took his hand and they returned to the spot they had been sleeping in just before.  
“Sorry” she whispered.  
“It’s all good Beth” he assured.  
Beth gave him a small smile and began to relax. It didn’t last long though, and Maggie walked over. She looked a little calmer now but still had some anger in her eyes.  
“Can I talk with my sister please?” asked Maggie.  
Max gave Beth a look, but she nodded and Max got up, leaving the two of them alone.  
“He didn’t force me to go out there Maggie” said Beth.  
“It doesn’t matter Beth, you shouldn’t have gone out there” said Maggie  
“I couldn’t let him go alone” said Beth.  
“That maybe so Beth but you’re sister, it’s my job to keep you safe” said Maggie sharply.  
Beth didn’t say anything, she loved Maggie for wanting to protect her, but she was also a little irked that Maggie thought Beth constantly needed her protection.  
“Maggie I love you, but I’m not a little girl any more and I really can take care of myself now” said Beth in exasperation.  
“I know you can but I worry about you, ever since the prison” said Maggie.  
This fired something up in Beth and she glared angrily at Maggie.  
“Were you though?” Beth then asked and Maggie gave her a confused look.  
“Were you worried about me after the prison?” Beth asked.  
Maggie didn’t respond and continued to look confused which angered Beth even more.  
“I saw the signs Maggie, the signs for Glenn” Beth then said.  
Maggie’s face fell and her mouth dropped open.  
“Beth, I..”  
“Not one of those signs had my name on it, Maggie, not one” said Beth.  
Maggie’s face was white now, her eyes wide and her bottom lip was trembling. Beth just glared at her and then turned away. There was a tense moment as both sisters didn’t speak and then Maggie got up and walked away. Max quickly returned and slipped an arm around her.  
“You ok?” he asked.  
Beth shook her head and pressed her face into his chest, wanting to cry her lungs out. She didn’t though, and kept her emotions in check.  
Max suggested she go back sleep. Beth didn’t think she was going to be able to sleep, but she laid her head against Max and closed her eyes. Her mind was racing, she was so angry at Maggie and hurt by her. She did fall asleep though, only to have nightmares for the rest of the night.  
When she woke the next morning tired and restless, but found the storm had passed and all was calm. She shifted and woke Max, who was still sleeping next to her.  
“Hey” he said softly  
“Hey” Beth said back.  
The rest of the group began to walk and move about the barn. Beth locked eyes with Maggie, noticing her eyes were red and Beth realised she must have been been crying. Beth’s anger at her was now gone, but she was still hurting and she could tell Maggie was as well.  
Max then climbed out the hayloft window and moved the Bushmaster. Rick opened the door and revealed the storm's devastation. Trees were uprooted and Beth saw one had crushed the SUV. The walkers that had been outside were now all strew around, some impaled on tree branches and the group quickly took care of the others that weren’t.  
Beth caught Maggie looking at her and Beth knew the two of them needed to clear the air. She indicated for Maggie to follow her and Maggie’s face lit up. They walked a little way from the barn and sat down on a fallen tree, watching the sun come up. They sat in silence and then both started talking at the same time. They both laughed and all the tension from last night washed away.  
“I’m sorry Maggie” said Beth.  
“No Beth I’m sorry, you’re completely right about those signs and I can never make up for those” said Maggie.  
“And you can take care of yourself, I do know that” Maggie then said and Beth smiled happily at her.  
The sisters just looked at each, both knowing neither wanted to be mad at each other and they hugged. They broke apart as they heard someone come up behind them and turned to see Max.  
“You two make up?” he asked and Beth smiled happily at him, nodding.  
“Yeah, we’re all good now” said Beth.  
“We’ll that’s good” said Max with a smile.  
“I want to apologise for last night Max, ” said Maggie.  
“All good Maggie” said Max and Beth smiled lovingly at him.  
The three of them sat and watched the sun rise further into the sky. The beautiful moment didn’t last though, and Max suddenly snapped up his pistol. Beth and Maggie also jumped up as a man appeared from the tree line, with his hands up.  
“Hi, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, good morning, my name is Aaron” he said calmly.  
Both Maggie and Beth also drew their pistols and aimed them at the man.  
“Don’t fucking move” growled Max.  
The man froze and raised his hands higher.  
“I know this stranger danger, but I'm a friend, I'd like to talk to the person in charge, Rick, right?” the man asked.  
Beth’s eyes widened at this, so did Maggie’s, but Max’s face just darkened and Beth saw his finger tighten on his pistol trigger.  
“How do you know..?” asked Maggie.  
He didn’t answer, but his smile grew bigger as he looked around at them and he spoke up again.  
“I have good news”…..


	10. Chapter 10

Max was thrown off guard slightly by the sudden appearance of the stranger standing before them and really wasn’t ready for any more trouble after the rough, danger filled night they had just survived.  
Max scanned the area, looking for any signs the man calling himself Aaron might not be alone and then forced him to his knees. Max pulled off the man’s backpack, tossed it to Maggie and began to pat the man down, finding a small pistol and knife.  
“What are you doing here?” Max asked as he threw the weapons aside.  
“It’s Max isn’t it?, and you’re Maggie and Beth” said Aaron, glancing between them.  
“Knowing our names isn’t exactly helping you mate” said Max angrily.  
“Yes, I’m sorry, I guess that would be off putting”said Aaron.  
“Have you been watching us?, were you back at the truck stop?” Max demanded and he heard Beth gasp.  
“Yes, I was there” Aaron answered.  
“How long have you been watching us?” Max then asked him.  
“Since Richmond” Aaron replied.  
“You’ve been watching us for that long?” Max asked.  
“We followed you..” Aaron began.  
“We?” asked Maggie, cutting him off.  
“Yes, my partner and I followed you back to that mansion” said Aaron.  
Max raised an eyebrow at this and felt a little uneasy the group had been surveillance for so long without them knowing.  
“Where is your partner?” Max then asked, looking around again.  
“He is waiting somewhere safe” said Aaron.  
Max stared intently at the man, he didn’t quite trust him yet, but nothing about him screamed danger.  
“So what do you want?” Max asked.  
“I’m from a community not far from here, it’s safe, we have walls and I would like to bring you all there” Aaron explained.  
“Just like that?” Max asked  
“Well no, not exactly, I’m here to take you back to audition for membership” said Aaron.  
Max exchanged looks with Beth and Maggie and they looked confused and troubled as he was.  
“We need to tell the others” said Maggie.  
Max agreed and pulled Aaron to his feet. They walked back to the barn and everyone jumped up, drawing their weapons as they saw Aaron.  
“Hey everyone, this is Aaron, we met him outside, he's by himself, we took his weapons and we took his gear” said Max  
“Hi, it's nice to meet you” said Aaron to the group.  
Nobody spoke and Rick and looked at Max.  
“You said he had a weapon?” Rick asked.  
Max nodded and tossed Rick the little .38 Aaron had been carrying on him.  
“There's something you need?” Rick asked Aaron as he examined the pistol.  
“He has a camp nearby, he wants us to audition for membership” said Max.  
“I wish there was another word for it, audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe, that's only on Friday nights” Aaron said.  
The group just stared at him and Aaron coughed nervously.  
“Um, it's not a camp by the way, it's a community and I think you all would make valuable additions, but it's not my call, my job is to convince you all to follow me back home” said Aaron.  
The entire group exchanged concerned looks and no one spoke. They all looked uneasy, but Rick’s face was enraged and his eyes hardened as he stared at Aaron.  
Aaron seemed to understand the groups hesitance and continued to look around at them.  
“I know, If I were you, I wouldn't go either, not until I knew exactly what I was getting into, Max if you look in my bag, font pocket, there is an envelope” said Aaron.  
Max found the envelope Aaron had mentioned and pulled some blurry photos from it. They were terrible quality, but Max could make out what looked like the reinforced walls of a gated community. Max passed the photos to Rick, who began to look through them, the expression on his face unchanged.  
“There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community, that's why I brought those, I apologize for the picture quality, we just found an old camera store..” said Aaron.  
“Nobody gives a shit” growled Daryl, cutting him off and Aaron winced.  
“You're absolutely hundred percent right”he said, apologetically.  
Rick flipped through the photos and Aaron cleared his throat.  
“That picture there is the one I wanted to show you because nothing I say about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe and If you join us, you will be” said Aaron  
He then began to describe how strong the walls were and that nothing alive or dead could get through them. He went on to explain that security was obviously important and there was only one resource more critical to his community's survival, people.  
“Together our community is strong and you can make us even stronger” said Aaron.  
He started to explain the second photo, but Rick then crossed the barn and punched Aaron in the jaw. Max caught him as he collapsed and let him slump gently to the ground. Maggie and Beth began tending to Aaron while Rick began to pace up and down the barn, looking around agitated.  
“Secure him, go through his pack, we need to know who he really is, everyone else, we need eyes in every direction, they're coming for us, we might not know how or when, but they are” said Rick, barking orders. Carl grabbed Aaron’s bag and dumped its contents onto the dirt floor while everyone else began moving about the barn and looking out fearfully. Max didn’t move and just stared Rick down.  
“Rick we were just out there, we didn’t see anything and I already talked to the guy, I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth” said Max calmly.  
“Rick if he wanted to hurt us, he could of” said Maggie.  
“Anybody see anything?” Rick asked, ignoring them both.  
“Just a lot of places to hide” said Glenn.  
“All right, keep looking” said Rick.  
Max could tell Rick had lost it and he knew he had to intervene before Rick made matters worse  
“Calm down Rick, you’re freaking the fuck out” said Max.  
The whole barn went went quiet and everyone stopped to look at Max and Rick.  
“Excuse me?” said Rick coldly.  
“I said calm the fuck down” said Max, low and threateningly.  
Both men stared at each other and Max could see the unhinged rage boiling in Rick’s eyes up close. Rick’s jaw clenched and Max prepared to knock him down if he even twitched.  
A groan broke the tension and Max looked to see Aaron had come to. Max walked over to him and sat him up.  
“That’s quite the right hook you got there Rick” said Aaron, rubbing his jaw.  
“Shut up” said Max and Aaron nodded.  
“Alright mate, I think you might be telling the truth, but we are going to need a lot more convincing” said Max.  
“Ok, I get it, I really do” said Aaron.  
“Is it just your partner or are there more out there?” Max asked.  
“Does it matter?” said Aaron.  
Max scowled and Aaron paled.  
“Yeah, it does matter” said Max.  
“Yes of course it matters, but whatever number I say you won’t believe” said Aaron.  
Max scowled and drew his pistol. He placed it against Aaron’s knee and the man paled.  
“Just answer the question” demanded Max.  
“It’s just the one, I swear” said Aaron.  
Max stared intently into the man’s eyes and could tell the man was telling the truth. He holstered his pistol and then stood up.  
“He’s lying, his people are out there just waiting for us” said Rick.  
He held up a flare gun Carl had found in Aaron’s bag and waved it in front of Aaron.  
“You have a flare gun, you have it to signal your people, how many of them are there?” asked Rick.  
“Rick, he just told us how many are out there” said Max angrily.  
Michonne, Beth and Glenn got between Max and Rick, forcing them apart. Beth placed her hand gently on his arm and Max felt some of the anger fade away.  
“What would it take to convince you that this is for real?, what if I drove you to the community?, all of you?, we leave now, we'll get there by lunch” said Aaron, talking to the whole group.  
“We just lost one of our vehicles so I'm not sure how all of us are going to make it there even with the one car you and your one friend drove down here in” said Rick.  
“We drove separately, if we found a group, we wanted to be able to bring them all home, there's enough room for all of us” Aaron quickly explained.  
“And you're parked just a couple miles away, right?” asked Carol.  
“East on Ridge Road, just after you hit route sixteen, we wanted to get them closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road and we couldn't clear it” replied Aaron and Rick snorted, shaking his head.  
“Yeah, you've really thought this through, haven’t you?” asked Rick.  
“Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here, you know, light the barn on fire while you slept, pick you off as you ran out, please you can trust me” Aaron pleaded.  
Aaron fell silent and continued to look desperately around the room. Max believed Aaron’s story and he was about say something when Michonne spoke up first.  
“I'll check out the cars” Michonne said, looking at Rick.  
“There aren't any cars” said Rick.  
“There's only one way to find out” said Michonne.  
”We don't need to find out” said Rick and Max scowled.  
“Yeah, we kinda do Rick” said Max.  
“You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not” said Michonne to Rick.  
“Me neither” said Maggie  
“Same here” said Max.  
Max threw a look at Beth and she nodded, agreeing with him.  
“Your way is dangerous, mine isn't” said Rick.  
“Passing up some place where we can live?, where Judith can live?, that's pretty dangerous, we need to find out what this is, we can handle ourselves, so that's what we're gonna do” said Michonne.  
“I’m going to go check out the cars as well” said Max.  
“Me too” said Maggie.  
Rick looked around and then settled on Abraham.  
“Abraham?” he said.  
Abraham looked at Rick and then nodded.  
“Yeah, I’ll ride with them” he said.  
“Ok, go check out these cars, everyone else, if we're all in here, we're a target, I want groups of two and three, find somewhere safe within eyesight” said Rick, barking orders again.  
Everyone began moving at once and Max saw Beth looking at him with concern. Max considered that she stay at the barn but he knew she would be a lot safer with him.  
“Coming?” Max said to her and she nodded.  
Those going to look for Aaron’s vehicle got into the Bushmaster, while the others found safe positions around the barn. Max about to climb into the driver's seat, but grabbed Glenn as he and Tara made to find their safe position.  
“Glenn, stay with Aaron, don’t leave Rick alone with him” Max said.  
Glenn looked like he wanted to say something, probably defending Rick in some way but then nodded.  
“I mean it Glenn, don’t leave him alone” said Max and then jumped up into into the Bushmaster.  
Max fired up the engine and they began heading in the direction Aaron had said he had left the vehicles.  
“So you do you think Aaron is telling the truth, you think we’ll find the cars?” Beth asked quietly from the passenger seat.  
“I really hope so for his sake” said Max.  
“He seems like an ok guy to me” said Beth.  
“Yeah, I got that impression as well” said Max.  
“Yeah?” Beth asked.  
“He doesn’t exactly scream bad guy” said Max  
“Rick doesn’t seem to think so” said Beth.  
Max just nodded, but didn’t respond. They continued on driving and soon reached several downed trees. Max could see the top of an RV on the other side of the trees through the branches.  
They all got out and looked around cautiously. Abraham took point and they made their way through the downed trees to the vehicles. They found a car a rusted sedan parked next to the RV and everyone exchanged looks.  
“Well the cars are here” said Rosita  
“Just like he said they would be” said Michonne.  
They were about to inspect the vehicles further when Max heard a noise. He whipped up his rifle and aimed it at a nearby bush.  
“Come out, now!” he ordered.  
A man stepped with his hands up and a terrified expression on his face.  
“H-hi my name is Eric” said the man.  
“Keep your hands up, turn around and get down on your knees” said Max.  
The man complied and Abraham quickly patted him down, but found no weapons. Abraham, then pulled him to his feet and led him over to Max and the others.  
“Is Aaron with you, is he ok?” Eric then asked, his eyes still wide and fearful.  
“He is fine” Max assured him and Eric nodded.  
“We should get back to the others” said Michonne and everyone agreed.  
While Michonne kept a close eye on Eric, Max, Beth, Rosita and Abraham began clearing the downed trees out of the way. Max grabbed an axe he kept in the Bushmaster and with it and the Bushmaster’s winch, they made a path big enough for the RV and the sedan to pass.  
They then returned to Michonne and Eric and Max pulled Michonne aside.  
“You get anything out of him?” he asked her.  
“Yeah, he confirmed Aaron’s story about their community” said Michonne.  
“You believe they’re both telling the truth?” Max asked.  
“He seems terrified of us and kept asking about Aaron but yeah, I think they are” she said.  
“Alright then, let’s head back” said Max.  
Abraham and Rosita got the RV with Eric, Michonne and Maggie took the sedan and Max and Beth got back into the Bushmaster.  
“Max, are we going to go to this community?” Beth asked.  
“Yeah, I really think we should” Max said  
“What if Rick doesn’t agree?’ Beth asked.  
“Look, I don’t have an answer to that, Beth, but we are going to check out Aaron’s community, whether he likes it or not” said Max.  
“I hope it doesn’t come to that” said Beth.  
“Me too Beth, but if it comes to it, that’s the choice we are going to have to make” said Max.  
Beth nodded and Max could see she was very worried about what was going to happen next. Max didn’t know what to say to comfort her, even he didn’t know what to expect when they brought Eric and the vehicles back to the others and just stayed silent.  
They reached the barn and Max pulled to a stop. The others came out of their hiding spots, weapons drawn and Max jumped down, giving them all a reassuring look.  
“It's ok everyone, everything is alright” he said.  
Rick came out of the barn with Aaron and his eyes narrowed as he saw the RV and the sedan.  
“Eric!” Aaron called out.  
“I’m here” said Aaron, appearing at the door of the RV.  
As Eric stepped out of the RV, Aaron tried to rush over to him, but Rick stopped him, grabbing his arm.  
“You stay here” said Rick.  
“Rick, there’s no need for that” said Max calmly  
Rick ignored him and tightened his grip on Aaron’s arm.  
“Rick, we can trust them, let him go” said Max.  
“We still don’t know them, this is the right play,” said Rick.  
“I said let him go Rick, I’m not going to ask you again” demanded Max.  
Rick looked around at the rest of the group and then released his grip on Aaron. He stepped away and Aaron rushed over Eric, embracing him. Max continued to stare Rick down and Michonne stepped up to Rick, taking him away from the group.  
Max and the rest waited as Michonne began talking to him and Max wondered what Michonne was going to say to convince him. She must have said something effective though, as they quickly returned and Rick looked a little calmer. He walked up to Aaron and Eric and they looked at him with apprehension.  
“So where are we going?, where's your camp?” Rick asked Aaron.  
“Well, every time we've done this, I've been behind the wheel driving recruits back, I believe you're good people, I've bet my life on it, but I'm just not ready to bet my friends' lives just yet” said Aaron.  
“You're not driving, so if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how” said Michonne.  
“Go north on route sixteen” said Aaron after a moment of hesitation.  
“And then?” Rick asked.  
“I'll tell you when we get there” said Aaron.  
“We'll take twenty three north and you'll give us directions from there” said Rick.  
“I don't know how else to say it, that's a bad idea, we've cleared sixteen, it'll be faster” reasoned Aaron and Eric nodded in agreement.  
“We'll take twenty three, we leave at sundown” said Rick with finality, speaking to the whole group.  
“We're doing this at night?” asked Sasha.  
Max had to admit Rick’s plan had some merit by playing it safe, but doing it at night was far too dangerous.  
“Nah, fuck that Rick” said Max.  
There was a murmuring as most of the group agreed with Max and Rick looked around at the group.  
“Look, I know it's dangerous, but it's better than riding up to the gates during the day, if it isn't safe, we need to get gone before they know we're there” reasoned Rick.  
“No one is going to hurt you, you're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger” pleaded Aaron.  
“Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now” demanded Rick.  
Aaron looked at Eric and then looked down at the ground.  
“Then we wait till night” said Rick.  
Max had enough and needed to take charge of the situation.  
“Rick we’re not waiting till night” Max said firmly.  
“We don’t know them, we are going to do this at night and that’s final” said Rick.  
“No we’re not, I don’t need your permission Rick, I don’t answer to you and I’m taking Beth and whoever wants to go and we are going, today” said Max loudly.  
Rick just stared and Max turned to Aaron.  
“You say you’ve cleared route sixteen?” Max asked.  
“Yes, it’s safe all the way” Aaron answered.  
“Ok then” said Max.  
Max looked around at the group to gauge their mood.  
“Alright, you have all have a choice to make, we can wait till night when it’s a lot more dangerous or we go now” said Max to everyone.  
Max knew he had Beth on his side as well as Maggie and Glenn and he guessed he had others convinced as well.  
“We should go today” said Carol, putting her hands on Lizzie and Mika’s shoulders  
“I’m for going” said Tara.  
“Me too” said Noah.  
Others like Abraham and Daryl seemed to think Rick’s plan was safer, but they were outnumbered.  
“Dad, we’re going with them, we need to do this ok” said Carl as he held Judith.  
Rick didn’t say anything and just stared at his children for a moment and then looked around at the rest of the group.  
“Ok” he said.  
It was like a weight had been lifted and all the tension that had been building up evaporated.  
“Ok, we go today, but they don’t travel together" pointing to Aaron and Eric.  
"And my kids ride with you” said Rick to Max and he nodded in agreement.  
Aaron didn’t like being separated from Eric but Rick wouldn’t back down.  
“Aaron its ok” said Eric.  
Aaron relaxed, relenting and the group then made preparations to leave. It was decided that Mika and Lizzie would also ride in the Bushmaster with Max and Beth and then others split amongst the other vehicles.  
Rick took the lead in the sedan with Aaron and they set off.  
They began making their way back to where they had found the RV and sedan and then headed onwards. The route like Aaron had promised, was so far free of dangers and obstacles and the group made their way further north.  
They soon run into trouble, though when the RV broke down. Everyone got out onto the road and Glenn and Abraham began repairs.  
“Do you think we are getting close?” Beth asked Max as they sat on the road, keeping a careful eye out for and dangers.  
Max had no idea and glanced at Aaron and Eric, who were being watched over by Rick and Daryl.  
“We can’t be too far now” Max guessed and Beth nodded.  
They then heard a cry of joy and looked to see Glenn and Abraham had gotten the RV working again.  
“Alright, back to it then” said Max.  
The group all piled back into the vehicles and they continued on. Max had been right in his assumption about being close as they soon entered a large upper class residential area.  
Max looked out at the empty houses lining the road. They were all in states of decay and Max wondered just what shape this community would be in, even if they did have walls.  
“Max look” said Beth.  
Max looked and saw a large wall up ahead, the same one shown in Aaron’s photo. They reached a large iron gate and Max pulled the Bushmaster to a stop behind Rick’s sedan.  
Beth then gave Max a concerned look and Max couldn’t blame her for being uneasy. So far everything Aaron had said was true, but anything could happen next.  
Aaron got out of the sedan and let out a whistle. The gate slid open without anyone checking, they drove inside and the gate slid closed behind them. Everyone got out of the vehicles and Max felt like he had entered another world as he stepped cautiously down from the Bushmaster.  
Behind the walls was a seemingly untouched suburban town filled with large, expensive style houses complete with manicured lawns. Max heard the sounds of children’s laughter in the distance and it was all very surreal. Beth joined Max and had the same look of amazement on her face.  
“Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons, stay, you hand them over” the man who opened the gate then demanded.  
“We don't know if we want to stay” said Rick as no one complied.  
“It's fine, Nicholas, let them talk to Deanna first” said Aaron calmly.  
“Who's Deanna?” asked Abraham gruffly.  
“She knows everything you'd want to know about this place” replied Aaron.  
Aaron, Eric and the man who opened the gate, then began escorting them down one of the streets away from the gate. Beth stayed close to Max and he kept a careful watch out, not really sure of what to make of everything so far.  
Max noticed people looking out from windows and some even came out from the houses, standing on their porches. A woman and a child walking a dog, stopped and looked at the group fearfully.  
“It's ok, it’s ok” said Aaron to them.  
The woman and the child hurried on and Aaron gave the others a look.  
“Sorry, you’re the first strangers they have seen in a very long time” said Aaron.  
“Really?” Maggie asked and Aaron nodded.  
They continued on and soon stopped in front of a house. A woman stepped out of the front door and gave them all a warm smile  
“Well hello there, I’m Deanna Monroe” she said with a warm smile.  
There was a murmur of greetings from the group and Deanna smiled at them again.  
“Well, it’s nice to meet you all” she said.  
Deanna indicated them to follow her inside the house she had come out of. She led them into a large lounge room and told them to make themselves comfortable.  
“Ok, now to business, I’m going to need to interview you one on one in private” Deanna then said.  
She opened a door, revealing a small study and Rick volunteered to go first, following her inside. The rest of the group made themselves comfortable around the room while they waited.  
“So what to think?” Beth asked Max.  
“Don’t know yet, but this place is something else” said Max.  
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” said Beth in agreement.  
Rick was soon done with his interview and Deanna called on Max next. Deanna closed the door behind them as Max walked into the study and she gestured to a comfy looking couch. Max sat down and Deanna sat opposite. Max noticed a camera on a tripod and raised an eyebrow.  
“I hope you don’t mind if I record this interview?” she asked and Max just shrugged  
“Ok then, so it’s Max, right?” asked Deanna.  
“Max Knight” he answered.  
“Oh, you’re an Australian?” said Deanna, with an interested look and Max nodded.  
“We have another Australian here as well, in fact our community has people from all over the world here” she said.  
“How many of you are there?” Max asked.  
“Close to a hundred” Deanna answered with a proud smile.  
“How have you survived this long?” Max asked.  
“Just lucky I guess, we’ve had very little problems since this all began, we have a very peaceful community here, but because of that it has made us vulnerable, which is why you and your group will be a very needed addition” said Deanna.  
Deanna then began to tell Max how Alexandria had come to be. She explained the gated community had already existed before the dead began had began roaming the earth, only unfinished and had been a planned environmentally sustainable community.  
Deanna went on to explain, her family and a large number of others had been brought there by the national guard in an effort to build a safe zone and the community had grown from there.  
“We have our own solar grid, cisterns and an eco-based sewage filtration system” said Deanna  
“You have a solar power?” asked Max, impressed.  
“Yes, every house has its own solar panels and we also have a separate bank of panels” she replied.  
Max just nodded at this information and Deanna consulted her notes again.  
“So Max I pride myself as a good judge of character and you strike me as a military man, you former military?” Deanna then asked.  
“Yes, I was in the Australian SAS” Max answered.  
“Special forces?, impressive” said Deanna, raising an eyebrow.  
Max shrugged humbly and Deanna smiled.  
“So what did you do for you group Max?, what was your role?” she then asked  
“I mostly took part in supply runs” said Max and Deanna nodded, jotting more notes down.  
She then looked up from notebook and gave him another warm smile.  
“Ok Max I think I might actually have a few roles suited for you here, but how bout we start you out on supply runs?” she suggested.  
“Sounds good” said Max.  
“Well, I think we’re just about done here” said Deanna.  
Deanna stood up and so did Max. Deanna led him back over to the door and then held out her hand  
“Well, Max, I would like to officially welcome you to Alexandria” she said.  
Max took her hand and shook it. Deanna smiled again and then led Max out the door to where the others were waiting. Beth looked at him with concern, he nodded at her and her face relaxed.  
“Young lady, why don’t you come in now?” said Deanna, speaking to Beth.  
Beth got up and follow Deanna inside. Max stepped outside and was joined by Rick and Michonne.  
They all looked around and saw a couple walking passed. The woman gave them a smile and waved. Nobody waved back, but Max did nod at the woman.  
“These people haven’t been outside the walls since it all began” said Rick.  
“Yeah, Deanna told me that as well, ” said Max.  
“They’ve been in here all that time?” Michonne asked.  
“Apparently so” said Max.  
“They have no idea what’s out there” said Rick.  
Max saw a strange expression appear on Rick’s face, but it quickly disappeared and Max wondered what he was thinking. Rick and Michonne then walked back inside and Max went to follow but Beth then walked out, done with her interview.  
“How did you go?” he asked her.  
“Yeah all good” she replied.  
“She give you a job?” he asked and she shook her head.  
“No, not yet, how bout you?” she said.  
“Think I might be going on runs again” Max revealed.  
“So do you think we are going to safe here Max?” she then asked, looking around.  
Max wasn't a hundred percent sure yet, but Alexandria was certainly a place they could be safe, it had walls, Deanna seemed like a capable leader and what Max had seen so far, there was no dangers to the group at all, in fact the people of Alexandria didn’t seem dangerous at all.  
“Yeah Beth, I think we just might be” he said.  
A brilliant smile appeared on Beth’s face and Max couldn’t help but grinning back. The last week or so had been tough, losing the prison, Beth’s kidnapping and losing Hershel, Bob and Tyreese had almost broke the group, but they had found each other again, Max had gotten Beth back, they had made new friends along the way and the group had come out the other side only stronger.  
Now Max, Beth and the others now had a new start, a new chance to be safe, to be part of something, to be part of a community again without having to worry about the death and destruction that plagued them and Max couldn’t have be more happier…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max and Beth’s saga will continue in, ‘Wolves, Winter and Suburbia’


End file.
